Gordonia bronchialis: an emerging opportunistic pathogen-a case report and comprehensive review.

BACKGROUND: Gordonia bronchialis (G. bronchialis) is an emerging opportunistic pathogen that primarily affects immunocompromised individuals and is often associated with indwelling catheters. CASE PRESENTATION: This paper presents a case of central line-associated bloodstream infection caused by G. bronchialis in a 15-year-old male with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), highlighting diagnostic challenges and successful treatment with antimicrobial therapy. The isolate was identified as G. bronchialis using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). Subsequent antimicrobial susceptibility testing revealed it to be susceptible to amikacin, amoxicillin-clavulanate, ceftriaxone, ciprofloxacin, clarithromycin, imipenem, linezolid, minocycline, moxifloxacin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, tobramycin, cefepime, cefotaxime and doxycycline. A comprehensive literature review of 41 reported cases underscores the diverse clinical manifestations of G. bronchialis infections, including bacteremia, sternal wound infections, and osteomyelitis, with a 95.1% cure rate. Diagnostic limitations and the need for advanced microbiological techniques are discussed, emphasizing the importance of clinical awareness in immunocompromised patients. CONCLUSIONS: This review advocates for standardized treatment guidelines and further research into virulence mechanisms and biofilm-disrupting agents to combat this pathogen effectively.