Cardiobacterium hominis: an elusive cause of endocarditis.
Cardiobacterium hominis is a fastidious bacterium of the normal mouth flora. It has rarely been recognised in the past as a human pathogen and has been difficult to recover from the bloodstream. Mistaken diagnoses and delays in therapy have been common. We report a 29-year-old man with C. hominis endocarditis who was initially treated for a presumed collagen-vascular disorder with anti-flammatory drugs. The organism was eventually recovered in brain-heart infusion medium after prolonged incubation, and cure was accomplished with parenteral penicillin. Special blood culturing methods should be used if endocarditis caused by a fastidious organism is clinically suspected.
D000328:Adult; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001769:Blood / Q000382:microbiology; D003470:Culture Media; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004698:Endocarditis, Subacute Bacterial / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D007105:Immune Complex Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D008297:Male
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D003470:Culture Media