Abstract:

Objective

To investigate the clinical manifestations, diagnosis, differential diagnosis and treatment of cat scratch disease (CSD).

Methods

A 62-year-old male patient, having a history of cat scratching, admitted to the Department of Infection, Southern University of Science and Technology Hospital in August 15, 2024 with “fever with left upper arm elbow and left axillary lymph node enlargement for 5 days” was reported.Lymph node ultrasound indicated that cat scratch disease was waiting to be diagnosed,and was clinically diagnosed by metagenomic sequencing (MetaCAP).

Results

Once Hanssebardia detected by MetaCAP, the patient underwent active anti-infective therapy, resulting in alleviation of fever and a reduction in the size of the enlarged lymph nodes in the left upper arm and axilla compared to previous measurements.The size of the enlarged lymph nodes in the left upper arm decreased from 23 mm × 12 mm to 21 mm ×10 mm, while those in the axilla diminished from 27 mm × 11 mm to 20 mm × 8 mm.

Conclusions

Patients with unexplained fever accompanied by lymphadenopathy, a history of scratches from cats or dogs should be considered the possibility of cat scratch disease.MetaCAP plays a signiflcant role in the diagnosis of cat scratch disease.

Key words: Cat-scratch disease, Bartonella henselae, Metagenomics capture, Fever, Swollen lymph nodes