title: Chronic Q Fever in Alberta: A Case of Coxiella burnetii Mycotic Aneurysm and Concomitant Vertebral Osteomyelitis.
abstract: Chronic Q fever is a potentially life-threatening infection from the intracellular, Gram-negative Coxiella burnetii. It presents most commonly as endocarditis or vascular infection in people with underlying cardiac or vascular disease. We discuss a case of a 67-year-old male with Coxiella burnetii vascular infection of a perirenal abdominal aortic graft. The patient had a history of an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair 5 years earlier. He presented with a 12 × 6 × 8 cm perirenal pseudoaneurysm and concomitant L1, L2, and L3 vertebral body discitis. He underwent an open repair which revealed a grossly infected graft perioperatively. Q fever serology revealed phase I serological IgG titer of 1 : 2048 and phase II 1 : 1024 consistent with chronic Q fever. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on infected vascular tissue was positive for C. burnetii. The patient was started on doxycycline and hydroxychloroquine with good clinical response and decreasing serological titers. Recognizing chronic Q fever is a difficult task as symptoms are nonspecific, exposure risk is difficult to ascertain, and diagnosis is hidden from conventional microbiological investigations. Its recognition, however, is critical as C. burnetii is inherently resistant to standard empiric therapies used in cardiovascular infections.
authors.affiliation: University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
authors.forename: William
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8684-0494
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Stokes
authors.affiliation: University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Janvier
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, South Health Campus, 4th Floor, Room 480073, 4448 Front Street SE, Calgary, AB, Canada T3M 1M4.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vaughan