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

Gordonia bronchialis (G. bronchialis) is an emerging opportunistic pathogen that primarily affects immunocompromised individuals and is often associated with indwelling catheters. 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. This review advocates for standardized treatment guidelines and further research into virulence mechanisms and biofilm-disrupting agents to combat this pathogen effectively.