When Enterococcus faecalis becomes a murderer

Abstract

We describe the case of a 64 years old patient, known for an Enterococcus faecalis endocarditis on a 25 mm Edwards-Carpentier biological aortic valve in 2020, who was re-hospitalized one year later in cardiac surgery for a recurrence of Enterococcus faecalisbacteriemia. During hospitalization, the patient presented a cardiac arrest. The coronarography revealed an acute occlusion of the left coronary artery. The autopsy confirmed an Enterococcus faecalis thrombus on aortic valve and left coronary artery. Although systemic embolism is a common complication of infective endocarditis, septic embolism is an unsual cause of acute coronary syndrome and a very rare cause of cardiac arrest. Our case highlights a rare and potentially fatal complication of infective endocarditis: acute coronary syndrome on septic coronary embolism.

Keywords: ECMO; Enterococcus faecalis; acute coronary syndrom; arrêtcardiaque; cardiac arrest; coronary embolism, septic embolism; emboleseptique; endocarditeinfectieuse; endocarditis; enodcardite; infective endocarditis; myocardial infarction; soinsintensifs; syndrome coronarienaigu.