Kytococcus Schroeteri Prosthetic Valve Endocarditis Complicated by Aortic Pseudoaneurysm: A Rare Complication from A Rare Agent

Abstract

Kytococcus schroeteri is a rarely described slow-growing gram-positive coccus, with recent association with Infective Endocarditis cases. A 29-year-old male with prior history of rheumatic valvular heart disease and HIV infection, previously submitted to two cardiac surgeries, the last one 12 years ago with mechanical mitral and aortic valve implantation plus tricuspid annuloplasty was evacuated from Cape Verde with congestive heart failure and no features of infection. The diagnostic workup revealed an aortic paravalvular leak and a large pseudoaneurysm as well as a severe tricuspid regurgitation. The patient underwent surgery with Bentall procedure and a mechanical tricuspid valve implantation. The microbiologic exam of the removed aortic valve using 16sRNA sequencing showed a Kytococcus schroeteri, revealing its association with a severe complicated case of prosthetic valve endocarditis