A case of Clostridium perfringens sepsis in the 29 week pregnant woman with diagnosed fetal omphalosel

Although not common, postpartum and post-abortion infections caused by clostridia can be severe. Clostridial uterine infections start as localized chorioamnionitis as a result of an infection from the fetus and/or placental tissues. The infection may spread to the uterine wall and endometrial tissues, and, in the most severe cases, uterine necrosis accompanied by sepsis ensues. In this paper we report the presence of Clostridium perfringens isolated from blood culture and placental specimen after the termination of a 29 gestational week pregnancy. The woman had a history of having omphaloceled fetus and premature membrane rupture. Fetal omphalocele is a congenital defect of the abdominal wall that allows some of the abdominal organs to protrude through it. In order to find the focus of infection, blood and plasental specimen of the patient were examined. Blood cultures of the patient were evaluated by the BACTEC 9120 system. The identification of the bacteria was performed conventionally and confirmed by the automatized API 20A system. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed by E-test according to the recommendations of Clinical Laboratory and Standards Institute (CLSI). Although Clostridium spp is rarely isolated from blood cultures, anaerobically evaluation of blood cultures in the infections of abdominal and genital sites could be life-saving, as in this report.