Q fever endocarditis: is it always subacute or chronic?

Turk Kardiyol Dern Ars. 2020 Jan;48(1):72-76. doi: 10.5543/tkda.2019.59153.

Abstract

Q fever is a zoonotic disease caused by Coxiella burnetii, an obligate intracellular bacterium, which cannot be grown using routine blood culture methods. Although C. burnetii is reported to be the causative agent in approximately 50% of blood culture-negative infective endocarditis cases in developed countries, the incidence in Turkey is yet to be defined. The clinical course of Q fever endocarditis is generally subacute and chronic; the disease may be present for years with only subtle symptoms and no vegetation visible on echocardiography while the bacteria gradually destroy the heart valves. This is the case of the successful treatment of a young man with Q fever endocarditis that had an acute clinical course. In 1 month, he developed New York Heart Association class IV heart failure and a large, 3-cm vegetation was observed on an echocardiogram.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Video-Audio Media

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / therapeutic use
  • Combined Modality Therapy
  • Coxiella burnetii / isolation & purification*
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Echocardiography
  • Endocarditis, Bacterial / diagnosis*
  • Endocarditis, Bacterial / diagnostic imaging
  • Endocarditis, Bacterial / therapy
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Q Fever / diagnosis*
  • Q Fever / diagnostic imaging
  • Q Fever / therapy
  • Video Recording

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents