Challenges in diagnosis and management of Corynebacterium striatum infective endocarditis – A case series

Corynebacterium striatum, being a skin commensal and environmental organism, is traditionally considered a contaminant of clinical specimens. However, the organism has emerged as a significant opportunistic pathogen causing native valve infective endocarditis (NVIE), especially in immunocompromised patients. We present a case series of three patients with C. striatum NVIE encountered within six months at a teaching hospital in Sri Lanka. All patients were immunocompromised with underlying conditions, namely multiple myeloma, tuberculosis, and malignancy with diabetes. Two cases had left-sided endocarditis and one was right-sided. Treatment consisted of prolonged antimicrobial therapy (4-6 weeks) with vancomycin-based regimens. One patient died despite appropriate therapy. This finding highlights the requirement of high clinical suspicion and aggressive management with prolonged antibiotic treatment. This is the first case series of C. striatum NVIE published in Sri Lanka.