A pediatric case of Cardiobacterium hominis endocarditis

Abstract

Gram negative endocarditis is relatively rare in pediatrics but when they occur they are most frequently caused by one of the HACEK (<em>Haemophilus species, Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, C. hominis, Eikenella corrodens</em> and <em>Kingella kingae</em>) group of microorganisms. Within the HACEK group of microorganisms there have been approximately 100 cases of <em>Cardiobacterium hominis</em> endocarditis reported in the literature, but only 2 previous cases of endocarditis and one case of pericarditis have been reported in children. In this report, we present a case of a 12-year-old boy with a right ventricle to pulmonary artery conduit for Tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary atresia who presented at an annual cardiology examination with a 3 week history of fatigue and was found to have a vegetation on routine echocardiogram. Subsequent blood cultures grew <em>Cardiobacterium hominis</em> and the patient was treated successfully with 6 weeks of appropriate antibiotic therapy. We present this case and a review of the literature of the HACEK group of microorganisms in pediatrics.