title: Bartonella henselae Infective Endocarditis Detected by a Prolonged Blood Culture.
abstract: A 65-year-old Japanese man was admitted with a 4-month history of fatigue and exertional dyspnea. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed a vegetation on the aortic valve and severe aortic regurgitation. Accordingly, infective endocarditis and heart failure were diagnosed. Although a blood culture was negative on day 7 after admission, a prolonged blood culture with subculture was performed according to the patient's history of contact with cats. Consequently, Bartonella henselae was isolated. Bartonella species are fastidious bacteria that cause blood culture-negative infective endocarditis. This case demonstrates that B. henselae may be detected by prolonged incubation of blood cultures.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Medicine, Chiba University Hospital, Japan.
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mito
authors.forename: Yusuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hirota
authors.forename: Shingo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Kazutaka
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Noda
authors.forename: Takanori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Uehara
authors.forename: Yoshiyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohira
authors.forename: Masatomi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ikusaka
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D001022:Aortic Valve Insufficiency / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D018416:Bartonella henselae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D000071997:Blood Culture; D002372:Cat-Scratch Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D002415:Cats; D004452:Echocardiography; D004697:Endocarditis, Bacterial / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male