Breast abscess in a case of duct atresia caused by CO2-auxotrophic small colony variants of Staphylococcus aureus: Case report and review of literature.
Small colony variants (SCV) are persistent, intracellular morphotypes of Staphylococcus aureus causing indolent, subclinical infections. They are usually auxotrophic for Thymidine, menadione or carbon dioxide. Diagnosis is often misleading due to small colony type, delayed coagulase activity and lack of hemolysis. We hereby describe a case of CO2-auxotrophic SCV of S. aureus causing left breast abscess in a young female with duct atresia of breast, detected by increased colony size in CO2 rich environment. SCVs can often be missed and have to be identified and treated properly.
Department of Microbiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna, Bihar, India.
Sayan
S
Bhattacharyya
Department of Microbiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna, Bihar, India.
Nitesh Kumar
NK
Jaiswal
Department of General Surgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna, Bihar, India.
Manoj
M
Kumar
Department of Microbiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna, Bihar, India.
Mohammad Aftab Alam
MA
Ansari
Department of Microbiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna, Bihar, India.
Asim
A
Sarfraz
Auxotrophism; Staphylococcus aureus; small colony variants