A Case of Septic Pulmonary Emboli in Ventricular Septal Defect

ABSTRACT

Septic pulmonary emboli(SPE) is derived from a variety of sources, including infected heart valves, peripheral sites of septic thrombophlebitis and infected venous catheters or pacemaker wires. In adult intravenous drug users, the most common cause of septic emboli is tricuspid valve endocarditis, but infective endocarditis in the non-complicated ventricular septal defect is a relatively rare condition in infants and children. Early detection, along with prompt administration of broad-spectrum antibiotics, is an important factor in the prognosis of patients with SPE. Unfortunately, initial clinical diagnosis is often difficult; a heart murmur may or may not be present and blood cultures may remain negative early in the course of infection. And so characteristic chest CT and chest radiographic findings are helpful in non-invasive diagnostic method for early detection. We experienced a case of pulmonary septic emboli associated with ventricular septal defect in a 6-year-old girl. The diagnosis was made on the basis of clinical features, echocardiography, chest x-ray and chest CT. We report this case with brief review related literatures.