Healthy Adolescent with a Mycotic Aortic Aneurysm from Community-Acquired Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Mycotic aneurysm after bacteremia is a rare diagnosis in children and adolescents. We report the case of a previously healthy adolescent who presented with chest pain and fever and who developed a mycotic aneurysm of the aorta after contracting community-acquired, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Early recognition of widening of the patient's superior mediastinum, noted during a comparison of the patient's initial and follow-up chest radiographs, prompted computed tomographic angiography of the chest and led to a timely diagnosis, rapid surgical intervention, and a good clinical outcome. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of mycotic aortic aneurysm from community-acquired methicillin-resistant S. aureus in a healthy adolescent who had no predisposing cardiac or aortic anomalies.