Legionella pneumonia complicated with rhabdomyolysis and acute kidney injury diagnosed by metagenomic next-generation sequencing: a case report

The triad of Legionella pneumonia, rhabdomyolysis, and acute kidney injury (AKI) is uncommon but can be devastating.[1] It is vital to recognize Legionella species early as a potential cause of pneumonia. Legionella infection remains underdiagnosed because of the nonspecific nature of clinical features and the shortcomings of routinely available diagnostic tests.[2] Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) is a culture-free and hypothesis-free diagnostic method that can rapidly identify almost all known pathogens in a sample.[3] Here, we present a successfully cured case of rhabdomyolysis and AKI caused by Legionella pneumophila with etiologic diagnosis aided by the use of mNGS.