Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Bozza, Silvia
• Graziani, Alessandro
• Borghi, Monica
• Marini, Daniele
• Duranti, Michele
• Camilloni, Barbara

Titel

Case report: Coxiella burnetii endocarditis in the absence of evident exposure

Ist Teil von

• Frontiers in medicine, 2023-08, Vol.10

Ort / Verlag

Frontiers Media S.A

Erscheinungsjahr

2023

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

EZB Free E-Journals

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Q fever is a worldwide zoonotic disease caused by Coxiella burnetii . In humans, it can manifest clinically as an acute or chronic disease and endocarditis, the most frequent complication of chronic Q fever is associated with the greatest morbidity and mortality. We report a severe case of endocarditis in a 55-year-old man with a history of aortic valve replacement affected by monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), and living in a non-endemic area for C. burnetii . After two episodes of fever of unknown origin (FUO), occurring 2 years apart and characterized by negative blood cultures, a serological diagnosis of Q fever endocarditis was performed even though the patient did not refer to possible past exposure to C. burnetii . Since people with preexisting valvular heart disease, when infected with C. burnetii , have reported a 40% risk of Q fever endocarditis, clinicians should maintain a high index of suspicion for infective endocarditis in all patients with FUO even when the exposure to C. burnetii appears to be unlikely.