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Mediastinal tissue friability—An unreported complication from Mycobacterium chimaera infection post‐cardiac surgery
Author(s) -
Cain Caitlin J.,
Ahmad Huzaifa,
Molina Ezequiel J.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of cardiac surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.428
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1540-8191
pISSN - 0886-0440
DOI - 10.1111/jocs.14928
Subject(s) - medicine , mediastinitis , surgery , vertebral osteomyelitis , septic shock , complication , aortic dissection , cardiopulmonary bypass , cachexia , cardiac surgery , debridement (dental) , sepsis , osteomyelitis , aorta , cancer
Mycobacterium chimaera can cause disseminated infection following cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass and contaminated heater‐cooler devices. We discuss a 41‐year‐old man with a disseminated M. chimaera infection following surgery for a type A aortic dissection. His presentation included cachexia and dorsalgia with a work‐up revealing vertebral osteomyelitis with an epidural abscess, bone marrow, and pulmonary infiltration, and fluid collection around his aortic graft. He received 1 month of antibiotics before the explantation of infected foreign material, mediastinal debridement, and aortic reconstruction. Complications included septic shock, respiratory and renal failure, mediastinitis, and four distal aortic anastomotic dehiscences from friable tissue and persistent infection.