CAMPYLOBACTER-FETUS SUBSPECIES FETUS ENDOAORTITIS ON A BENTALL TUBE PROSTHESIS - ONE CASE

Campylobacter fetus is a rare cause of endocarditis and endoaortitis : the authors believe this to be the second reported case of infection of an intracardiac prosthesis. The patient was a man who had already undergone replacement of the aortic valve and ascending aorta, and a gastrectomy, which were predisposing factors. The portal of entry was not found. The diagnosis was confirmed by positive blood cultures and transoesophageal echocardiography. The outcome was rapidly fatal despite antibiotic therapy and surgery, because of the seriousness of the lesions (pseudo-aneurysm of the aorta ruptured into the right atrium), the precarity of the terrain and surgical difficulties.