Concomitant Neck and Lung Masses Post Dental Procedure; a Potential Novel Presentation of the Cellulosimicrobium Species in Humans

Background Cellulosimicrobium, formerly known as the Oerskovia genus is a gram positive organism known for it’s characteristic bright yellow colonies. While abundant in nature it is very rarely linked to pathogenesis in humans. These cases tend to be foreign body-related or involving immunocompromised patients. Case presentation A 57-year-old immunocompetent Irish male presented with concomitant neck and lung masses. Notably, this was found to be directly following a recent dental procedure. During extensive investigations, Cellulosimicrobium was isolated from biopsied lung tissue. The patient was treated with long term oral amoxicillin and both masses showed measurable reductions in size on subsequent imaging. Conclusion Should Cellulosimicrobium represent the causative pathological organism in this case, then we believe this to represent a potential novel documented presentation of the organism’s pathogenesis in humans. We provide detailed discussion surrounding the successful management of this patient and the evaluation of the evolving differential diagnosis throughout this case.