In Practice

Culture-negative endocarditis due to Bartonella quintana
Abstract
Bartonella spp. was first described as a possible cause of culture-negative endocarditis in 1993, and has since emerged as a significant cause of this condition worldwide. We describe a complicated case of culture-negative endocarditis in an immune-competent male patient, which was confirmed on resected heart valves to have been caused by Bartonella quintana by broad-range 16S ribosomal RNA polymerase chain reaction. The objective of this report is to highlight the clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic challenges of Bartonella endocarditis.
Authors' affiliations
Vineshree Mischka Moodley, Ampath National Laboratory Services, Cape Town, South Africa
Tienie T S Zeeman, Netcare N1 City Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa
C H Johan van Greune, Ampath National Laboratory Services, Cape Town, South Africa
Craig Corcoran, Molecular Biology Unit, Ampath National Reference Laboratory, Pretoria, South Africa
Full Text

Keywords
Cite this article
Article History
Date published: 2016-04-19
Article Views
Full text views: 837
Comments on this article
*Read our policy for posting comments here