Bacterial skin infections after liver transplantation

Bacteria	Comments
Atypical mycobacteria (M. kansasii, M. chelonae, M. fortuitum, M. marinum)	Cutaneous lesions most commonly on the extremities. Isolated nodules that have a violet color, are necrotic, or are ulcerative. These lesions can appear months to years after transplantation. The possibility of environmental contamination of the cultures, causing false positive results, should be taken into account. Sequencing the hsp65 gene from the skin biopsy may accelerate the diagnosis and improve its accuracy^[1].
Nocardia	Usually appear as subcutaneous abscesses or nodules in association with other manifestations of disseminated nocardiosis.
Staphylococcus aureus	Responsible for pyoderma, wound infections, and toxic shock syndrome.
Treponema pallidum	Skin lesions of secondary syphilis accompanying hepatitis with prolonged fever has been reported following liver transplantation.
Bartonella henselae	Localized bacillary angiomatosis. Skin lesions occur in only 24 percent of cases^[2].

References:

Lau SK, Curreem SO, Ngan AH, et al. First report of disseminated Mycobacterium skin infections in two liver transplant recipients and rapid diagnosis by hsp65 gene sequencing. J Clin Microbiol 2011; 49:3733.
Psarros G, Riddell J 4th, Gandhi T, et al. Bartonella henselae infections in solid organ transplant recipients: report of 5 cases and review of the literature. Medicine (Baltimore) 2012; 91:111.

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