CNS Infections Caused by Eikenella corrodens

•Eikenella corrodens, a slow-growing, microaerophilic, Gram-negative bacillus, was isolated from a patient with subdural empyema. Fourteen previous reports on patients with CNS infection caused by this agent, including meningitis, brain abscess, and subdural empyema, have been found. The mortality was 38%.Eikenella corrodens, found in primary infections of the ear and paranasal sinuses and in pulmonary and dental infections, is usually part of a mixed infection in which other aerobes and anaerobes, particularlyStreptococcus, can be cultured. The high mortality may reflect unfamiliarity with the microbiologic characteristics of this organism and its antibiotic susceptibility.