We report the case of a 59-year-old man with Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia and active alcohol use who presented with bilateral
knee pain 5 years after a bilateral staged TKA. Cultures of synovial fluid and periprosthetic tissue specimens from both knees
yielded, after prolonged anaerobic incubation, a catalase- and oxidase-positive gram-negative bacillus, which was identified
as Capnocytophaga canimorsus by 16S ribosomal RNA PCR analysis. C canimorsus, an organism that is commonly found in dog and
cat saliva, is a rare cause of various infections in immunocompromised and healthy individuals. However, a review of the medical
literature indicates C canimorsus has not been reported previously to cause infection after joint arthroplasty. The patient
was immunocompromised by cytotoxic chemotherapy, corticosteroids, and alcohol use. The patient was managed successfully with
bilateral two-stage exchange and 6 weeks of intravenous ertapenem therapy. Because of its fastidious and slow-growing characteristics,
C canimorsus may be an unrecognized cause of culture-negative joint arthroplasty infections, especially in cases when dog
and cat exposure is evident in the clinical history.
One of the authors (ADH) has received funding from Stryker Orthopaedics, Mahway, NJ, DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc, Warsaw, IN,
and Zimmer, Inc, Warsaw, IN.