metricas
covid
Buscar en
Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología Clínica (English Edition)
Toda la web
Inicio Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología Clínica (English Edition) Prosthetic valve with infective endocarditis caused by Propionibacterium avidum....
Información de la revista
Vol. 35. Núm. 3.
Páginas 196-197 (marzo 2017)
Compartir
Compartir
Descargar PDF
Más opciones de artículo
Visitas
1200
Vol. 35. Núm. 3.
Páginas 196-197 (marzo 2017)
Scientific letter
Acceso a texto completo
Prosthetic valve with infective endocarditis caused by Propionibacterium avidum. A case report
Endocarditis infecciosa protèc)sica causada por Propionibacterium avidum
Visitas
1200
Jose Loureiro-Amigoa, Silvia Ponsb, Montserrat Sierrac, Yolanda Meijea,
Autor para correspondencia
yolandameije@gmail.com

Corresponding author.
a Infectious Disease Unit • Internal Medicine Department, Hospital de Barcelona, Societat Cooperativa d
tm)Instal·lacions Assistencials Sanitàries (SCIAS), Barcelona, Spain
b Cardiology Unit, Hospital de Barcelona, SCIAS, Barcelona, Spain
c Microbiology Department, Hospital de Barcelona, SCIAS, Barcelona, Spain
Este artículo ha recibido
Información del artículo
Texto completo
Bibliografía
Descargar PDF
Estadísticas
Texto completo

We report the case of an 85-year-old woman with a history of hypertension, diabetes mellitus and permanent pacemaker implantation, who underwent bioprosthetic aortic valve replacement (Sorin Crown PRT 19mm) due to aortic stenosis. Eight months later the patient presented at the emergency room with fatigue, malaise and weight loss over a period of 8 weeks. She was febrile (38.3°C) and presented clinical and radiologic features of heart failure. Laboratory test revealed anemia (Hb 8.2g/dL), leukocytosis (14,800/mcL), and C reactive protein was 86mg/L. Electrocardiogram showed a complete atrioventricular block with normal pacemaker stimulation. Two sets of blood cultures were obtained. The patient was admitted with a diagnosis of viral respiratory infection and congestive heart failure. Antibiotic therapy was not initiated. Twenty-four hours after admission she presented a ventricular tachycardia without pulse requiring electric cardioversion. A transthoracic echocardiogram showed a severe prosthetic aortic valve stenosis with calcified unstructured leaflets and thickened calcified mitral leaflets, without images of vegetations. For the next three days the patient remained afebrile but congestive heart failure worsened. On day 4 transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) revealed a vegetation (4mm) in the aortic prosthesis and a possible perivalvular abscess; after that an Infectious Disease specialist was consulted. Three further sets of blood cultures were obtained, empirical therapy was started with daptomycin, ampicillin and ceftriaxone, and surgery was recommended. On day 3, coryneform Gram-positive bacilli grew in anaerobic bottles of blood cultures collected at admission (after 65h of culture). This result was initially regarded as a contamination and was not reported to clinicians till the next day when the microbiologist was informed about the infective endocarditis (IE) suspicion. These bacteria were initially identified as Propionibacterium spp., and subsequently as P. avidum by MALDI-TOF. On day 8 all three sets of blood cultures obtained before antibiotic therapy was initiated were growing coryneform Gram-positive bacilli in anaerobic bottles. So Propionibacterium spp. were considered the responsible for the IE and an antibiogram-guided de-escalation was made to penicillin G (24 million IU/24h). The patient underwent surgery on day 11. Unfortunately the postoperative course was complicated by refractory shock and multi-organic failure, and the patient died 48h after surgery.

Propionibacterium spp. are ubiquitous Gram-positive coccobacilli which are constituents of human skin microflora. Major species include P. acnes, P. granulosum and P. avidum. Traditionally considered to be species of low virulence, P. acnes and to a lesser extent P. granulosum have been implicated in serious infections, including IE.1•5P. avidum has been reported as an overlooked cause of breast abscesses after surgery, of septic arthritis after intraarticular treatment, and of abscesses in other locations after surgery or invasive procedures.1,6 However, to the best of our knowledge this is the third case of IE due to P. avidum reported in the literature, after the ones reported by Vetromile7 and Braun.8

The incidence of Propionibacterium spp. IE is reported to be 0.3•1.4 cases per year.2 As in our case, Propionibacterium spp. is usually associated with a long history of minimal clinical signs of infection.3 It involves prosthetic valves in 67% of cases and abscess formation occurs in 36% of cases, specially involving prosthetic cardiac devices.3

In Propionibacterium spp. IE the reported median growing time in blood cultures is 7 days.3 Therefore, blood samples should be cultured for more than 7 days before a diagnosis of bacteremia can be rejected,2,3,5 especially when IE is suspected, in order to permit the growth of fastidious microorganisms other than the HACEK group bacteria like Propionibacterium spp. We stress that only a minority of Propionibacterium spp. bacteremias are clinically significant.9 The clinical context and the number of positive bottles are essential to an assessment of the real significance of Propionibacterium spp. bacteremias, but microbiologists should be alert to the possibility of IE.

Propionibacterium spp. are highly susceptible to a wide range of antibiotics, including beta-lactams, quinolones, clindamycin and rifampin, but not metronidazole. In absence of consensus on the management of Propionibacterium spp. IE, most physicians choose a 6-week course of a beta-lactam antibiotic, alone or in combination with aminoglycosides.2,3 Surgery is needed in a high proportion of patients, mainly due to perivalvular extension and abscess formation.3,10 Although Propionibacterium spp. have low virulence, the overall mortality rate in Propionibacterium spp. IE is relatively high (16•27%) due to the frequent valvular and perivalvular destruction.2,3

To conclude, this case emphasizes a number of important concepts. First, both clinicians and microbiologists should be aware of the possibility of Propionibacterium spp. (even other than P. acnes) as a possible etiology of IE, especially in view of its significant mortality. Second, blood samples should be cultured for prolonged periods of time in order to permit the identification of fastidious microorganisms like Propionibacterium spp. Third, permanent feedback between microbiologists and clinicians is essential to ensure that significant information is not missed.

Funding

No funding was required for this work.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Nuria Fernández Hidalgo and Joaquim Martínez-Montauti for their critical review, to Francesc Marco for the MALDITOF identification, and to Michael Maudsley for English language support and editorial assistance.

References
[1]
T.N. Mak, M. Schmid, E. Brzuszkiewicz, G. Zeng, R. Meyer, K.S. Sfanos, et al.
Comparative genomics reveals distinct host-interacting traits of three major human-associated propionibacteria.
BMC Genomics, 14 (2013), pp. 640
[2]
J.J. Clayton, W. Baig, G.W. Reynolds, J.A.T. Sandoe.
Endocarditis caused by Propionibacterium species: a report of three cases and a review of clinical features and diagnostic difficulties.
J Med Microbiol, 55 (2006), pp. 981-987
[3]
M.R. Sohail, A.L. Gray, L.M. Baddour, I.M. Tleyjeh, A. Virk.
Infective endocarditis due to Propionibacterium species.
Clin Microbiol Infect, 15 (2009), pp. 387-394
[4]
R. van Valen, R.A.F. de Lind van Wijngaarden, N.J. Verkaik, M.M. Mokhles, A.J.J.C. Bogers.
Prosthetic valve endocarditis due to Propionibacterium acnes.
Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg, (2016), pp. ivw087
[5]
I. Yedidya, E. Goldberg, R. Sharoni, A. Sagie, M. Vaturi.
Infective endocarditis caused by Propionibacterium granulosum.
Isr Med Assoc J, 17 (2015), pp. 642-643
[6]
P.G. di Summa, A. Yvon, L. Larcher, W. Raffoul, N. Koch.
Propionibacterium avidum infection following breast reduction: high morbidity from a low-virulence pathogen.
J Surg Case Rep, 2015 (2015), pp. 1-3
[7]
F. Vetromile, P. Malfante, N. Fuentes, A. Bosio.
Endocarditis bacteriana por Propionibacterium avidum. ¿Un primer caso en la literatura?.
Rev Hosp Privado Comunidad, 4 (2001), pp. 37-39
[8]
D.L. Braun, B.K. Hasse, J. Stricker, J.S. Fehr.
Prosthetic valve endocarditis caused by Propionibacterium species successfully treated with coadministered rifampin: report of two cases.
BMJ Case Rep, (2013), pp. 2013
[9]
H.J. Park, S. Na, S.Y. Park, S.M. Moon, O.H. Cho, K.H. Park, et al.
Clinical significance of Propionibacterium acnes recovered from blood cultures: analysis of 524 episodes.
J Clin Microbiol, 49 (2011), pp. 1598-1601
[10]
G. Habib, P. Lancellotti, M.J. Antunes, M.G. Bongiorni, J.-P. Casalta, F. Del Zotti, et al.
2015 ESC Guidelines for the management of infective endocarditis.
Eur Heart J, 36 (2015), pp. 3075-3128
Copyright © 2016. Elsevier España, S.L.U. and Sociedad Española de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Mirobiologia Clinica
Descargar PDF
Opciones de artículo
es en pt

¿Es usted profesional sanitario apto para prescribir o dispensar medicamentos?

Are you a health professional able to prescribe or dispense drugs?

Você é um profissional de saúde habilitado a prescrever ou dispensar medicamentos