Moraxella Catarrhalis peritonitis

BACKGROUND: Peritonitis continues to be a major complication of peritonitis in peritoneal dialysis patients. Recent advances in connectology and better patient training have decreased the incidence of peritonitis in the last two decades. Peritonitis in PD patients is usually due to gram positive and less often due to gram negative organisms. Herein we report a case of peritonitis due to Moraxella Catarrhalis and review the literature on the diagnosis and treatment of this rare cause of peritonitis. CASE REPORT: Our patient was a 56 year old man with end stage renal disease, on peritoneal dialysis, who was totally asymptomatic and on routine clinic visit was noted to have a high white blood cell count in his peritoneal fluid. Due to the nature of the organism, it took two weeks and two different microbiology laboratories to identify the organism and provide proper treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Peritonitis is the major cause of peritoneal dialysis failure and prompt recognition of the causative agent is of crucial importance to the proper and timely management of this complication.