Abstract
Eggerthella lenta (E. lenta) is a rare but significant human emerging pathogen. Infections caused by it are rare and little-known, both on clinical and therapeutical aspects, in spite of new emergence of bacteria isolation and identification techniques. In this article, we report a case involving a previously healthy 52-year-old man suffering from a newly diagnosed hepatic abscess who developed E. lenta bacteremia, which was treated successfully using empirical therapy with ertapenem and teicoplanin. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first documented report of E. lenta bacteremia related specifically to liver abscess. Cases related to this bacterial species are infrequent and sporadic; thus, we reviewed English literature on E. lenta infection in PubMed/MEDLINE in the last 50 years. A total of 31 sporadic cases were identified. The majority of patients were male (71%), had an average age of 54.3 years and presented predisposing conditions, such as digestive system trouble (45.2%), immunocompromised state (25.8%) or risk factors (22.6%). Two of the cases had more than one predisposing factors. Fever was common (93.5%). Average days to diagnosis of them were 6.8 days. MALDI-TOF MS is emerging as a fast and useful tool in the identification of it. Teicoplanin, vancomycin, amoxicillin-clavulanate, metronidazole, clindamycin, cefoxitin, chloramphenicol, and carbapenems appear to be the most used antibiotic treatment options. The purpose of this review is to increase awareness about the clinical infections caused by E. lenta.