Journal of Pathology and Translational Medicine

Case Report

Serratia marcescens Skin Abscess.: Chan Kwon Jung, Young Shin Kim, Kyo Young Lee, Kyungja Han, Chang Suk Kang, Sang In Shim, Jun Young Lee, Baik Kee Cho; Korean J Pathol. 1998;32(11):1032-1034.

Abstract: Serratia marcescens is the most important member of the genus Serratia and causes opportunistic infections, particularly pneumonia and septicemia in patients with malignancy, renal failure (acute and chronic), and diabetes mellitus. The most common portals of entry are known to be, in descending order, lung, genitourinary tract, intravenous line, gastrointestinal tract, and skin. S. marcescens rarely causes skin infection because it does not normally colonize human skin. Only six cases of S. marcescens cellulitis were reported. Five of them were immunocompromised patients. We have experienced a case of skin abscess caused by S. marcescens, which was found in a 59-year-old woman. She was undergoing prior antibiotic treatment after insulinoma surgery. S. marcescens was isolated from the skin abscess as a sole organism. She was treated with appropriate antibiotics that exhibited sensitivities for the organism and cured without any complication. The authors report a case of S. marcescens infection on the skin of a 59-year-old woman and review the literature concerning this organism as a causative agent.

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