Blood culture‐negative infective endocarditis presenting with atypical dermatologic manifestation: A rare case report and review of the literature

Abstract

Infective endocarditis (IE) is characterized by inflammation of the endocardium, including the endocardial wall and heart valves. 1 Blood culture-negative endocarditis (BCNE) is marked by probable or definite endocarditis when three or more blood cultures sampled over 48 h are negative despite adequate incubation (>1 week). It accounts for 2.5%-31% of all cases of IE. 2 Major causes of BCNE include: (1) antibiotic administration prior to sampling (often due to infection with prevalent causative organisms, such as streptococci, staphylococci, or enterococci), (2) presence of fastidious organisms, which are hard to culture. These include Propionibacterium acnes, HACEK bacteria, defective streptococci-Gemella, Abiotrophia sp., Granulicatella, and Candida. (3) the