Background. While Corynebacterium striatum and other Corynebacterium species were historically considered contaminants, they\nare recently being identified as pathogens with increasing frequency. Case Summary. We report the case of a 78-year-old gentleman\nwith a three-year history of knee pain and established diagnosis of osteoarthritis referred for consideration for total knee\narthroplasty. He had no knee pain with passive range-of-motion. Plain films demonstrated bony erosions atypical for\nosteoarthritis. Joint aspiration white blood cell count was 30,548/mm3, but multiple cultures were positive for C. striatum. The\ninfection was successfully treated with open irrigation and debridement, complete synovectomy, and six weeks of intravenous\ndaptomycin. Conclusion. To our knowledge, this is the first report of chronic C. striatum septic arthritis of a native joint and\nonly the third case of C. striatum septic arthritis of the knee.
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