Corynebacterium macginleyi is commonly associated with conjunctiva and corneal infections but in immunocompromised patients, it has also been implicated in sepsis from an indwelling vascular catheter, ventilator-associated pneumonia, and an orthopedic incision site infection with nodular granulomatous in a draining fistula.
C. macginleyi, formally in CDC Group G-1, is a lipophilic isolate that ferments glucose, sucrose, and ribose. It is CAMP-negative and is non-hemolytic on blood agar. Better growth is obtained using 0.1% Tween 80 and some isolates produce a rose pigment. Colonies can be large when supplemented with Tween but are small on sheep blood agar without Tween supplementation. The organism is a facultative anaerobe and will not grow in BHI broth without Tween 80 supplement.
