Native Valve Endocarditis due toVeillonellaSpecies: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Abstract

Veillonella species are fastidious bacteria that have been isolated from skin, dental, and respiratory tract infections and rarely have been implicated in serious infections like meningitis, endocarditis, and osteomyelitis. A 76-year-old woman presented to our hospital with fever, vomiting, and generalized weakness for 3 days. A transthoracic echocardiogram showed a mobile structure on anterior mitral valve leaflet measuring 0.9 cm suggestive of vegetation. Empiric therapy with vancomycin and piperacillin-tazobactam was started with clinical resolution of her symptoms. On day 6, the blood culture drawn at admission grew Veillonella species. A transesophageal echocardiogram confirmed a 1.2 × 0.4 cm echo dense structure attached to the left ventricular side of the anterior mitral leaflet. The patient was discharged home after 10 days of inpatient antibiotic therapy and completed 4 weeks of IV ceftriaxone at home without any adverse events. She was reevaluated in the clinic after completion of treatment and repeat blood cultures remained negative. We report the first case of successful treatment of endocarditis due to Veillonella species with once daily ceftriaxone.

Prevention of excessive exercise‐induced adverse effects in rats withBacillus subtilisBSB3

“…Facklamia, alpha-haemolytic bacteria, have been shown to cause bacteraemia (Rahmati et al 2017), acute cystitis and sepsis (Mostafa et al 2019). Veillonella species have been reported to be aetiological factor of endocarditis (Saladi et al 2017) and associated with Crohn's disease (Kugathasan et al 2017). Significant increases in these bacteria have been observed in the gut microbiota of children with inflammatory bowel syndrome (Rigsbee et al 2012) and in patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (Kummen et al 2017).…”

Disseminated Native Tricuspid Valve Infective Endocarditis and Vertebral Osteomyelitis Secondary to Veillonella dispar in a Patient Who Injects Drugs

“…The most common Veillonella species isolated is V. parvula , which was originally named Staphylococcus parvulus [ 4 , 5 ]. Veillonella species are normal human flora found predominantly in the oropharyngeal, gastrointestinal, and genitourinary tracts [ 2 ].…”

“…Cases of both native and prosthetic valve endocarditis have been reported due to Veillonella species, including V. alcalescens , V. dispar , and V. parvula . In one case series of patients with infective endocarditis secondary to Veillonella species, the authors describe nine patients with endocarditis involving the mitral, aortic, or tricuspid valves [ 2 ]. In this case series, four patients had native valve endocarditis, four had prosthetic valve endocarditis, and one was unspecified [ 2 ].…”

“…Veillonella species are known to be slow-growing, anaerobic, Gram-negative cocci that are normal human commensals present in the oropharyngeal, gastrointestinal, and genitourinary regions [ 1 , 2 ]. The genus Veillonella has approximately 13 species, of which six have been isolated from the oral mucosa and predominate in patients with poor oral hygiene [ 3 ].…”

“…The genus Veillonella has approximately 13 species, of which six have been isolated from the oral mucosa and predominate in patients with poor oral hygiene [ 3 ]. Veillonella is typically a benign organism; however, it has been reported in association with deep-seated infections, including endocarditis, osteomyelitis, and meningitis [ 2 ]. Due to the rare pathogenicity of Veillonella species, its antibiotic susceptibility patterns are not well studied; however, it is generally accepted to be susceptible to penicillins and cephalosporins [ 4 ].…”