Pulmonary endarteritis in a patient with patent ductus arteriosus and a bicuspid aortic valve

BACKGROUND: Infective endarteritis of the pulmonary artery is an unusual event. While congenital heart disease (CHD) is a risk factor, pulmonary endarteritis as a complication is a rare occurrence especially in the era of antibiotic therapy.CASE PRESENTATION: We present a case of a 43-year-old female who initially sought consultation due to fever. Physical examination revealed a continuous murmur at the second intercostal space left parasternal border. There was no petechiae or any other skin lesions noted. Transthoracic two dimensional echocardiogram showed eccentric left ventricular hypertrophy with an ejection fraction of 65%. She had a patent ductus arterioscus as well as a bicuspid aortic valve. Further interrogation revealed a vegetation at the main pulmonary artery. Patient was initially started on ceftriaxone and gentamycin. Blood cultures were positive for coagulase negative Staphylococcus aureus. Ceftriaxone was then shifted to vancomycin, which was completed for 28 days.OUTCOME: Clinical improvement was accompanied by the disappearance of the vegetation and negative blood cultures. Patient was maintained on enalapril and advised closure of the patent ductus arteriosus. She opted medical management for the time being and was discharge stable and improved.CONCLUSION: Pulmonary endarteritis is an uncommon complication of CHD. A high index of suspicion must prompt careful evaluation, combining clinical, laboratory and echocardiographic modalitites in order to provide early diagnosis and effective treatment.

A Case of Pulmonary Artery Endarteritis due to Staphylococcus lugdunensis in Patient with Clinically Silent Patent Ductus Arteriosus / 이화의대지

Staphylococcus lugdunensis (S. lugdunensis) is an unusually virulent coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) and uncommon cause of infective endocarditis (IE) involving mainly native left sided valves. S. lugdunensis IE, which was described previously as "surreptitious" and "wolf in sheep's clothing", runs an aggressive course with a high rate of severe in-hospital complications. Therefore, early surgical treatment has been considered for the treatment of S. lugdunensis IE. However, we experienced a case of S. lugdunensis pulmonary endarteritis which was cured with antibiotic therapy alone.