First case report of thyroid abscess caused by Helicobacter cinaedi presenting with thyroid storm

BACKGROUND: Helicobacter cinaedi is a microaerobic Gram-negative spiral-shaped bacterium that causes enteritis, cellulitis, and bacteremia in both immunocompromised and immunocompetent patients. While there have been increasing numbers of reported H. cinaedi infections recently, there has been no thyroid abscess case caused by H. cinaedi presenting with thyroid storm. CASE PRESENTATION: A 50-year-old Japanese man presented with a 9-day history of high fever associated with palpitations, dry cough, and chronic diarrhea. The patient had a history of Basedow’s disease that had been treated with thiamazole in the past. During the current episode, the patient was diagnosed with thyroid storm and treated accordingly. The blood culture taken on admission was positive for H. cinaedi. This finding was confirmed by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOFMS). A systemic computed tomography (CT) scan revealed a thyroid abscess as the site of infection and cause of the bacteremia. The 16S rRNA gene sequencing identified the pathogen of thyroid abscess as H. cinaedi. Clinical symptoms and laboratory data normalized on admission day 7 after treatment with both effective antibiotics and antithyroid drugs. CONCLUSIONS: The case study described a patient with a history of Basedow’s disease that presented with a thyroid abscess caused by H. cinaedi with symptoms similar to those of thyroid storm. While this bacterium has been implicated in other infections, we believe this is the first time the bacteria has been documented to have caused a thyroid abscess. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12879-019-3808-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.