Infective endocarditis caused by Listeria monocytogenes forming a pseudotumor.
A 73-year-old woman with breast cancer and metastasis under chemotherapy suffered from fever, pleural effusion and pericardial effusion. Despite the administration of treatment with cefozopran and prednisolone, the patient's fever relapsed. An electrocardiogram identified a new complete atrioventricular block and an echocardiogram revealed vegetation with an unusual pseudotumoral mass in the right atrium. Blood cultures grew Listeria monocytogenes. The patient was eventually diagnosed with right-sided infective endocarditis, which improved following the six-week administration of ampicillin and gentamicin. Homemade yoghurt was suspected to be the cause of infection in this case. Listeria endocarditis is rare; however, physicians should pay more attention to preventing this fatal disease in immunocompromised patients.
Medicine and Biosystemic Science, Kyushu University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Japan.
Akiko
A
Uehara Yonekawa
Sho
S
Iwasaka
Hisataka
H
Nakamura
Mitsuhiro
M
Fukata
Masako
M
Kadowaki
Yujiro
Y
Uchida
Keita
K
Odashiro
Shinji
S
Shimoda
Nobuyuki
N
Shimono
Koichi
K
Akashi
D000368:Aged; D004452:Echocardiography; D004696:Endocarditis / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D004697:Endocarditis, Bacterial / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D006325:Heart Atria; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008089:Listeria monocytogenes / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008088:Listeriosis / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology*