RESEARCH ARTICLE


Cardiobacterium hominis and Cardiobacterium valvarum: Two Case Stories with Infective Episodes in Pacemaker Treated Patients



Tina Bennett Bonavent1, Xiaohui Chen Nielsen2, Kjeld Skødebjerg Kristensen1, Nikolaj Ihlemann3, Claus Moser4, Jens Jørgen Christensen2, 5, *
1 Department of Internal Medicine, Holbæk Hospital, Holbæk, Denmark
2 Department of Clinical Microbiology, Slagelse Hospital, Slagelse, Denmark
3 Department of Cardiology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
4 Department of Clinical Microbiology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
5 Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Denmark


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Creative Commons License
© Bonavent et al.; Licensee Bentham Open

open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 International Public License (CC BY-NC 4.0) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/legalcode), which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Clinical Microbiology, Slagelse Hospital, Ingemannsvej 46, 4200 Slagelse, Denmark; Tel: +4558559421; Fax: +4558559410; E-mail: jejc@regionsjaelland.dk


Abstract

Introduction:

Cardiobacterium hominis and Cardiobacterium valvarum are well known, though rare, etiologic agents of infective endocarditis. Cardiac devices are increasingly implanted.

Case Reports:

Two cases of infective episodes in pacemaker (PM) treated patients with respectively C. hominis and C. valvarum are presented. In one case blood-culture bottles yielded growth of C. hominis at two episodes with two years apart. At the second episode a vegetation was recognized at the PM lead and the PM device and lead was removed. In the C. valvarum case, echocardiography revealed a bicuspid aortic valve with severe regurgitation and a more than 1 cm sized vegetation.

Conclusion:

The cases illustrate the diversity in disease severity by Cardiobacterium species. Careful follow up has to be performed in order not to overlook a relatively silent relapsing infection.

Keywords: Antibiotic treatment, Cardiobacterium hominis, Cardiobacterium valvarum, Cardiac device, Infective endocarditis.