An unusual presentation of colon cancer: purulent pericarditis and cardiac tamponade due to Bacteroides fragilis.
Extra-abdominal infections caused by colonic anaerobic organisms have been shown to be associated with colorectal cancers. We report a very unusual case of a patient who suffered from cardiac tamponade secondary to anaerobic bacterial pericarditis caused by Bacteroides fragilis as an initial presentation of colon cancer. The medical literature is reviewed.
Lam
S
S
Department of Medicine, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New Hyde Park, New York, USA.
Greenberg
R
R
Bank
S
S
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000150:complications*; D000368:Aged; D001442:Bacteroides Infections / Q000209:etiology*; D001441:Bacteroides fragilis; D002305:Cardiac Tamponade / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D002430:Cecal Neoplasms / Q000150:complications; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010493:Pericarditis / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology*