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A 73-year-old male presented to the emergency department with delirium and fever (39.2 °C) 1 week after receiving an intra-articular corticosteroid injection in his left glenohumeral joint to treat bursitis. Janeway lesions were noticed. The cardiologist was consulted and performed transthoracic and transoesophageal echocardiography, on which an impressive 8‑cm snake-like vegetation was seen on the mitral valve with minor regurgitation (Fig. 1a; see also Video 1 in Electronic Supplementary Material). Blood cultures grew Staphylococcus aureus. Based on the modified Duke criteria (two major criteria and three minor criteria), definite endocarditis was diagnosed [1]. Given the size and mobility of the vegetation, emergent cardiac surgery was performed, in which the vegetation was removed en bloc and the mitral valve was replaced (Fig. 1b; see also Video 2 in Electronic Supplementary Material). The patient died on the 17th postoperative day as a result of uncontrolled infection. Swift diagnosis and treatment in patients with (suspected) S. aureus endocarditis is crucial to improve outcomes.
References
Habib G, Lancellotti P, Antunes MJ, et al. 2015 ESC Guidelines for the management of infective endocarditis. Eur Heart J. 2015;36:3075–123.
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G.J. van Steenbergen, W. Tunnissen, N. Timmermans, P. Houthuizen, R. van den Broek and T. van Brakel declare that they have no competing interests.
Supplementary Information
Transoesophageal echocardiogram of the vegetation
Findings during surgery
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van Steenbergen, G.J., Tunnissen, W., Timmermans, N. et al. The Staphylococcus aureus cardiac snake. Neth Heart J 31, 452–453 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12471-023-01790-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12471-023-01790-3