Actinomycosis pathophysiology

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Pathophysiology

• Actinomycosis is caused by the bacteria Actinomyces which is a normal commensal of the human oral cavity but less common in the female genital tract and lower gastrointestinal tract.
• The most frequent manifestation of actinomycosis is cervicofacial actinomycosis. This infection occurs mostly from dental manipulation, dental caries, or oromaxillofacial trauma.
• The common clinical forms of are:

• Cervicofacial actinomycosis (lumpy jaw)
• Thoracic actinomycosis
• Abdominal actinomycosis
• Pelvic actinomycosis
• Dermatologic actinomycosis
• Pediatric actinomycosis
• Opthalmological actinomycosis

• Actinomyces is usually

Types	Site of Infection	Source of infection	Pathogenesis
Cervicofascial actinomycosis	Neck Jaw Mouth	Dental problems like tooth decay	Most common type of actinomycosis 50% of cases
Thoracic actinomycosis	Lungs or Associated airways	Inhalation of droplets of contaminated fluid	15%-20% of cases
Abdominal actinomycosis	Abdomen	Secondary to abdominal infections like appendicitis or Accidental swallowing of a foreign body such as, chicken bone containing the actinomycetes bacteria	20% of cases
Pelvic actinomycosis	Pelvis	Occurs most commonly in woman as the bacteria passes from the female genitals into the pelvis Long term use of IUD type of contraceptive	10% of cases

References

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