Open AccessProteus mirabilis – a rare cause of non-HACEK Gram-negative infective endocarditis
Author(s) -
Angus de Wilton,
Marios Margaritis,
Harriet Mills,
Sarah Logan,
James Hatcher,
Stephen Morris-Jones
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
acute medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.14
H-Index - 12
eISSN - 1747-4892
pISSN - 1747-4884
DOI - 10.52964/amja.0819
Subject(s) - proteus mirabilis , endocarditis , medicine , infective endocarditis , proteus , ceftriaxone , ciprofloxacin , antibiotics , microbiology and biotechnology , bacteria , biology , staphylococcus aureus , biochemistry , escherichia coli , gene , genetics
Infective endocarditis caused by Proteus mirabilis is strikingly rare. Here, we describe the case of an 86-year old man with five recurrent septic episodes over a period of three months associated with Proteus mirabilis bacteraemia secondary to underlying Proteus endocarditis. The final diagnosis was made based on clinical findings, blood culture results and transoesophageal echocardiogram. The patient was treated medically with 6 weeks of ceftriaxone and long-term oral ciprofloxacin. On completion of intravenous therapy the patient remained well. We performed a literature review and found this to be only the fourth confirmed case of Proteus mirabilis endocarditis successfully treated with antibiotic therapy alone. This case highlights an important but rare cause of endocarditis, reinforcing the need to consider this diagnosis in recurrent Gram-negative bacteraemia even if by an atypical organism.