title: Diagnosis of Cardiobacterium hominis endocarditis by broad-range PCR from arterio-embolic tissue.
abstract: A case of culture-negative endocarditis is reported, in which the diagnosis of Cardiobacterium hominis endocarditis was made from arterio-embolic tissue removed by percutaneous transluminal embolectomy by broadrange polymerase chain reaction amplification of the 16 rRNA gene, followed by single-strand sequencing. The use of this technique to identify etiologic agents from arterio-embolic material has not been reported so far. A serologic assay employing complement fixation against a crude antigen of Cardiobacterium hominis confirmed the diagnosis of endocarditis caused by this unusual fastidious etiologic agent.
authors.affiliation: Dept. für Innere Medizin, Universitätsspital Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kaplan
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zbinden
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Altwegg
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D001021:Aortic Valve; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler; D017128:Embolectomy; D004617:Embolism / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D004697:Endocarditis, Bacterial / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000628:therapy; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D016905:Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D006092:Gram-Negative Facultatively Anaerobic Rods / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011150:Popliteal Artery / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents