Volume 10, Number 5, September-October 2003

A case of acute aortic valve endocarditis due to Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae acquired from fish
Muhammad Arif

Infective endocarditis is characterised by the microbiological inflammation of the linings of the heart chambers, valves and great vessels. It was described for the first time by Osler in 1885. Its estimated annual incidence is 22 cases per million population in England and Wales and 49 per million per year in the US, which may be an underestimation. It is usually diagnosed by finding ‘typical’ organisms for endocarditis on blood cultures. But sometimes very rare or ‘atypical’ organisms may be seen on blood culture and may be the cause of endocarditis.1,2 In such cases the clinical presentation may be far from classical and the course of the illness may be very dramatic and unpredictable. Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae is one of these rare causes of endocarditis, which requires a high index of suspicion and awareness among microbiologists and clinicians to be able to recognise it and treat it promptly.

Br J Cardiol 2003;10:392-394.

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