Infected aneurysm of the aortic arch with purulent pericarditis caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae

A 76-year-old woman had a chest pain and high fever, and was admitted to the intensive care unit diagnosed as acute pericarditis. Enhanced CT-scan showed a 47-mm aneurysm in the aortic arch which seemed to be impending rupture and the part of the aorta looked like a pseudoaneurysm. Emergent total aortic arch replacement with a rifampicin-bonded Dacron graft was performed. Pericardial effusion was purulent and the aorta was infected with pus discharge in the aortic wall. There were some ulcerations on the surface of the luminal wall of the aorta. One of them was penetrating into the pericardial space causing a pseudoaneurysm. Both pericardial effusion and excised aortic wall were sent to culture study and resulted in positive for Streptococcus pneumoniae. The infection of the aorta, with erosion into the pericardial space, seemed to be the cause of purulent pericarditis. Antibiotic therapy was commenced immediately after surgery and continued for four weeks. Though she had neurological deficit after surgery, her infection was well controlled and there was no recurrence of infection 11 months after surgery. (C) 2010 Published by European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.