title: Mycobacterium abscessus bacteremia in an immunocompetent patient following a coronary artery bypass graft.
abstract: Sternal osteomyelitis with bacteremia due to Mycobacterium abscessus is rarely seen in immunocompetent hosts. Routine pyogenic cultures in these cases are often negative causing a delay in diagnosis and treatment. Clinicians and microbiologists should rule out the possibility of infection due to nontuberculous mycobacteria while managing cases of nonhealing culture-negative wounds with conventional antibiotic therapy. We report a case of bacteremia secondary to a nonhealing sternal wound due to M. abscessus. A combination of radical debridement and prolonged antimicrobial therapy helped in the complete eradication of the infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Medanta - The Medicity, Gurgaon, Haryana, India.
authors.forename: Smita
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sarma
authors.forename: Sunil
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Usha K
authors.initials: UK
authors.lastname: Baweja
authors.forename: Yatin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mehta