Infect Chemother.  2017 Dec;49(4):282-285. 10.3947/ic.2017.49.4.282.

Prosthetic Valve Endocarditis caused by HACEK Organisms: a Case Report and Systematic Review of the Literature

• Choi HN
• Park KH
• Park S
• Kim JM
• Kang HJ
• Park JH
• Lee MS

• KMID: 2399196
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3947/ic.2017.49.4.282

Abstract

HACEK is a rare cause of prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE). We describe 42-year-old male patient who presented with Aggregatibacter aphrophilus PVE and cerebral infarct. A. aphrophilus was isolated from his blood cultures as the sole pathogen, which was confirmed by subsequent 16S rRNA sequencing. He was treated with valve replacement surgery and an 8 week course of pathogen-directed antibiotic therapy and followed for 20 months without recurrence.

Keyword

HACEK; Aggregatibacter aphrophilus; Endocarditis; Heart valve prosthesis

MeSH Terms

Adult
Aggregatibacter aphrophilus
Endocarditis*
Heart Valve Prosthesis
Humans
Male
Recurrence

Figure

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  Figure 1 MRI axial diffusion weighted image of brain shows an infarction involving right basal ganglia, periventricular white matter and basal temporal lobe. MRI, magnetic resonance imaging.

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  Figure 2 Transthoracic echocardiography showing thrombus and vegetations (white arrow) on the mitral prosthetic valve diagnostic of endocarditis.

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