Enterococcus gallinarum Causing Native Valve Endocarditis

摘要

Endocarditis due to Enterococcus gallinarum is a rare condition, usually affecting older patients. The most frequent source of infection is the gastrointestinal or genitourinary tracts; it frequently involves the aortic valve and tends to produce heart failure.We present a case of Enterococcus gallinarum endocarditis developing on a normal native heart valve.Enterococcus gallinarum is intrinsically resistant to vancomycin. Antibiotic susceptibility patterns indicate that most isolates are penicillin and ampicillin-susceptible.LEARNING POINTS class="unordered" style="list-style-type:disc">Endocarditis due to Enterococcus gallinarum is rare.Enterococcus gallinarum is intrinsically resistant to vancomycin.Most isolates are penicillin and ampicillin-susceptible. class="kwd-title">Keywords: Endocarditis, Enterococcus gallinarum, heart failure, antibiotic class="head no_bottom_margin" id="__sec2title">INTRODUCTIONEnterococci are well established as being a cause of endocarditis and urinary tract infections. The most common species causing human infections are Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium; the other species are rarely encountered in human clinical specimens^[].Enterococcus gallinarum is part of the normal stool flora of the general population^[].Endocarditis due to Enterococcus gallinarum is a rare clinical condition, usually affecting older patients. The most frequent source of infection is the gastrointestinal or genitourinary tracts; it frequently involves the aortic valve and tends to produce heart failure^[–].