Silent Native-valve Endocarditis Caused by Propionibacterium acnes

Intern Med. 2018 Aug 15;57(16):2417-2420. doi: 10.2169/internalmedicine.9833-17. Epub 2018 Mar 30.

Abstract

We describe a rare case of Propionibacterium acnes native-valve endocarditis that silently progressed in a 67-year-old man with hybrid dialysis. The patient was scheduled for kidney transplantation, and pre-operative investigation incidentally detected a vegetative structure at his native mitral valve that had increased in size. He underwent cardiac surgery and P. acnes was detected in cultures of a resected cardiac valve specimen and blood. This case highlights that P. acnes can silently cause infective endocarditis in a native-valve, and that physicians should consider the possibility of infection when P. acnes is isolated in blood cultures.

Keywords: Propionibacterium acnes; anaerobe; hemodialysis; infective endocarditis; native valve.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Endocarditis, Bacterial / etiology*
  • Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / complications*
  • Heart Valve Prosthesis / microbiology*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mitral Valve / microbiology*
  • Mitral Valve / surgery*
  • Propionibacterium acnes / isolation & purification*
  • Prosthesis-Related Infections / etiology*
  • Treatment Outcome