Serratia marcescens Endocarditis: A Case Report and Literature Review

Authors

  • Ana Isabel Ferreira Department of Internal Medicine. Centro Hospitalar Universitário de São João. Porto. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7013-3664
  • Fernando Oliveira e Silva Department of Infectious Diseases. Centro Hospitalar Universitário de São João. Porto.
  • Jorge Reis Department of Internal Medicine. Centro Hospitalar de Vila Nova de Gaia / Espinho. Gaia.
  • Marta Henriques Department of Hematology and Oncology. Centro Hospitalar Universitário de São João. Porto.
  • Jorge Almeida Department of Internal Medicine. Centro Hospitalar Universitário de São João. Porto.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20344/amp.16377

Keywords:

Endocarditis, Bacterial, Fever, Heart Valve Prosthesis, Positron-Emission Tomography, Serratia marcescens

Abstract

Serratia marcescens is a rarely implicated agent in endocarditis. We describe a case of a patient that underwent aortic and mitral valve replacement for Streptococcus agalactiae endocarditis. Four months later, he was readmitted with an ischemic stroke and fever. Physical examination and repetitive transthoracic echocardiogram were unremarkable. The initial blood cultures were negative. Due to sustained fever, vancomycin, gentamicin and piperacillin-tazobactam were initiated. On subsequent blood cultures, Serratia marcescens was isolated and antibiotics switched to ertapenem and gentamicin. In addition to cerebral emboli, a splenic embolus was found. The PET/CT revealed an abnormal hypercaptation in the mitral bioprosthesis. The patient was treated for six weeks. There are no current specific recommendations regarding the treatment of Serratia marcescens endocarditis. It is widely accepted that treatment should be prolonged and include a combination of antimicrobial agents. Morbidity and mortality are high, particularly when there’s the need for surgical replacement. In this case, however, the patient ended-up only requiring medical treatment due to the favourable response.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Phadke VK, Jacob JT. Marvelous but morbid: infective endocarditis due to Serratia marcescens. Infect Dis Clin Pract. 2016,24:143-50. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/IPC.0000000000000360

Yeung HM, Chavarria B, Shahsavari D. A complicated case of Serratia marcescens infective endocarditis in the era of the current opioid epidemic. Case Rep Infect Dis. 2018;2018:5903589. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/5903589

Korner RJ, Nicol A, Reeves DS, MacGowan AP, Hows J. Ciprofloxacin resistant Serratia marcescens endocarditis as a complication of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. J Infect. 1994;29:73–6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0163-4453(94)95141-1

Baggish AL, Nadiminti H. Intracranial abscess from embolic Serratia marcescens endocarditis. Lancet Infect Dis. 2007;7:630. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(07)70213-X

De Silva K, Fife A, Murgatroyd F, Gall N. Pacemaker endocarditis: an important clinical entity. BMJ Case Rep. 2009;bcr02.2009.1608. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bcr.02.2009.1608

Hadano Y, Kamiya T, Uenishi N. A fatal case of infective endocarditis caused by an unusual suspect: Serratia marcescens. Intern Med. 2012;51:1425–8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2169/internalmedicine.51.6648

Hakuno D, Toya T, Adachi T. Transient right-sided Serratia endocarditis after percutaneous transhepatic procedure. J Echocardiogr. 2013;11:36-7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12574-012-0155-8

Lyall DA, Gregory ME, McDonnell J, Villiers F, Tejwani D. Bilateral endogenous Serratia marcescens endophthalmitis secondary to endocarditis following cardiac surgery. Scott Med J. 2013;58:e1–6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0036933013482647

Meyer CG, Vacek TP, Bansal A, Gurujal R, Parikh A. Dynamic course of Serratia marcescens pulmonic valve endocarditis resulting in submassive PE and valve replacement. J Investig Med High Impact Case Rep. 2018;26;6:2324709618759128. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2324709618759128

Nikolakopoulos A, Koutsogiannis N, Xaplanteri P, Gogos C, Kolonitsiou F, Lekkou A. A case of Serratia marcescens endocarditis in a nonintravenous drug-using male patient and review of literature. Case Rep Infect Dis. 2019;20;2019:3715404. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/3715404

Caceres J, Sood V, Farhat L, Yang B. Aortic valve endocarditis with anomalous origin of the right coronary artery and unknown infected thrombus in the dissected descending thoracic aorta. Aorta. 2020;8:76-9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0040-1714715

Grinberg S, Bishburg E, Nagarakanti SR. Embolic serratia aortic valve endocarditis. IDCases. 2020;22:e00953. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.idcr.2020.e00953

Richardson A, Martinez A, Ghetiya S, Missov E, Percy R, Sattiraju S. Serratia marcescens endocarditis with perivalvular abscess presenting as atrioventricular block. Case Rep Infect Dis. 2020;2020:7463719. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/7463719

Tan CQ, Chan D, Grant RW, Manganas C. Serratia marcescens infective endocarditis complicated by aortic root abscess and aorta to right atrial fistula. Heart Lung Circ. 2021;30:e59-60. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hlc.2020.09.941

Winkle SM, Gaballa S, Memon A, Miller JB, Curfiss R. Serratia marcescens tricuspid valve vegetation and successful use of the AngioVac® system. Cureus. 2020;12:e10010. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.10010

Downloads

Published

2022-05-30

How to Cite

1.
Ferreira AI, Oliveira e Silva F, Reis J, Henriques M, Almeida J. Serratia marcescens Endocarditis: A Case Report and Literature Review. Acta Med Port [Internet]. 2022 May 30 [cited 2026 Jun. 7];35(12):908-12. Available from: https://www.actamedicaportuguesa.com/revista/index.php/amp/article/view/16377

Issue

Section

Case Report