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Unusual association of diseases/symptoms
CASE REPORT
A rare case of pyogenic pericarditis secondary to Streptococcus constellatus
  1. Sehem Ghazala1,
  2. Todd Rabkin Golden2,
  3. Sumaya Farran3,
  4. Tirdad T Zangeneh3
  1. 1 Department of Internal Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
  2. 2 Department of Medicine, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, Arizona, USA
  3. 3 Infectious Diseases, The University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, Arizona, USA
  1. Correspondence to Dr Sehem Ghazala, sghazala{at}deptofmed.arizona.edu

Summary

We report an extremely rare case of purulent pericarditis caused by the normally commensal oral flora, Streptococcus constellatus, a viridans Streptococcal species and member of the S. anginosus group (previously also known by the eponymous ‘S. milleri’, for American Willoughby Dayton Miller). This case is a previously healthy 71-year-old immunocompetent woman from Arizona who presented with a 5-day history of progressive shortness of breath and chest tightness, and subjective fever and chills, but without history of nausea, vomiting, night sweats, recent travel, autoimmune disease or sick contacts. Early recognition and intervention of purulent pericarditis allow patients like the one outlined in this case to achieve full recovery.

  • pericardial disease
  • infectious diseases

https://doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2017-223804

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors SG: primary care of patient, wrote hospital course and consented patient. TRG: wrote the discussion. SF: helped in writing and/or editing the article. Also, consultant service (ID). TTZ: attending on service, played a role in manuscript revision and supervision of the case.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent Obtained.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.