The aim of this study was to establish an evidence-based guideline for the
antibiotic treatment of
Corynebacterium striatum
infections.
Several electronic databases were systematically searched for clinical trials,
observational studies or individual cases on patients of any age and gender with
systemic inflammatory response syndrome, harboring
C. striatum
isolated from body fluids or tissues in which it is not normally present.
C. striatum
had to be identified as the only causative
agent of the invasive infection, and its isolation from blood, body fluids or
tissues had to be confirmed by one of the more advanced diagnostic methods
(biochemical methods, mass spectrometry and/or gene sequencing). This systematic
review included 42 studies that analyzed 85 individual cases with various
invasive infections caused by
C. striatum
. More than one
isolate of
C. striatum
exhibited 100% susceptibility to
vancomycin, linezolid, teicoplanin, piperacillin-tazobactam,
amoxicillin-clavulanate and cefuroxime. On the other hand, some strains of this
bacterium showed a high degree of resistance to fluoroquinolones, to the
majority majority of β-lactams, aminoglycosides, macrolides, lincosamides and
cotrimoxazole. Despite the antibiotic treatment, fatal outcomes were reported in
almost 20% of the patients included in this study. Gene sequencing methods
should be the gold standard for the identification of
C.
striatum
, while MALDI-TOF and the Vitek system can be used as
alternative methods. Vancomycin should be used as the antibiotic of choice for
the treatment of
C. striatum
infections, in monotherapy or in
combination with piperacillin-tazobactam. Alternatively, linezolid, teicoplanin
or daptomycin may be used in severe infections, while amoxicillin-clavulanate
may be used to treat mild infections caused by
C. striatum
.