Corynebacterium kroppenstedtii breast abscesses and granulomatous mastitis have gained increased recognition in the 20 years since their association was first described. No studies to date have described this organism in the context of all breast abscess pathogens. We retrospectively reviewed 160 community-acquired breast abscess samples from 135 patients in a 3 year period, describing the organisms isolated along with risk factors, site of infection and outcomes. We compared patient subgroups with acute and chronic abscesses, the latter defined as having a requirement for repeat aspiration more than 1 month apart. The prevalence of C. kroppenstedtii breast abscesses was 8 % in all patients (11/135), rising to 32 % in chronic abscesses (10/31), but only 1 % in acute abscesses (1/104; P<0.01). Only 10 % (1/10) of patients with C. kroppenstedtii chronic abscesses were smokers, whereas 75 % of patients (15/20) with non-C. kroppenstedtii chronic abscesses were smokers (P=0.01). C. kroppenstedtii should be considered in recurrent and prolonged infections, especially in non-smokers, and diagnostic methods altered accordingly. Identifying C. kroppenstedtii provides diagnostic clarity and alters management with recommendations for longer courses of treatment using non-beta-lactam antibiotics.
Keywords: Corynebacterium kroppenstedtii; breast abscess; epidemiology; granulomatous mastitis; laboratory methods.