ABSTRACT
We report a very rare case of Streptococcus canis native infective endocarditis in a 73-year-old woman living in close contact with her dog. Her echocardiography showed large calcifications in the mitral annulus, massive regurgitation below the posterior leaflet, and adjacent vegetation. Blood culture was positive for Streptococcus Lancefield group G. A coronary artery bypass and mitral valve replacement had to be done. Streptococcus canis was detected in a heart valve using a broad range PCR followed by 16S rRNA and confirmed by tuf gene sequencing, while tissue culture remained negative. The patient was not bitten by her dog nor did she have comorbidities or skin ulcers. She fully recovered.
Subject(s)
Endocarditis, Bacterial/diagnosis , Endocarditis, Bacterial/microbiology , Streptococcal Infections/diagnosis , Streptococcal Infections/microbiology , Streptococcus/classification , Streptococcus/isolation & purification , Aged , Blood/microbiology , Calcinosis/diagnostic imaging , Cluster Analysis , Coronary Artery Bypass , DNA, Bacterial/chemistry , DNA, Bacterial/genetics , DNA, Ribosomal/chemistry , DNA, Ribosomal/genetics , Echocardiography , Endocarditis, Bacterial/pathology , Endocarditis, Bacterial/surgery , Female , Humans , Mitral Valve/diagnostic imaging , Mitral Valve/pathology , Mitral Valve/surgery , Peptide Elongation Factor Tu/genetics , Phylogeny , Polymerase Chain Reaction , RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/genetics , Sequence Analysis, DNA , Streptococcal Infections/pathology , Streptococcal Infections/surgeryABSTRACT
Cardiobacterium valvarum, a fastidious Gram-negative bacterium, was detected in the aortic valve of a previously healthy 63-year-old man by broad-range PCR and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. In contrast to the patients in five previously published cases, our patient had neither a congenital bicuspid nor a prosthetic aortic valve. Here, we present a case of C. valvarum native tricuspid aortic valve infective endocarditis and a review of the literature.
