A Rarely Reported Case of Enterococcus faecalis Bacteremia Causing Infective Endocarditis and Osteomyelitis

Infective endocarditis (IE) is an infection of the heart valves or endocardium, usually due to the spread of infection through the blood. It can cause a varied range of symptoms, from being asymptomatic to reduced heart function, valvular abnormalities, embolization, or death. Enterococci are usually present as normal gut flora but can also cause bacteremia, urinary tract infections, or IE, especially in the elderly population. The source of enterococcal spread in most of the cases is unidentifiable and sometimes associated with the genitourinary tract or damage to the gut mucosa due to trauma, malignancy, and infection, among others. Very few cases have been reported so far on Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis) endocarditis and even rarer for such cases complicated by osteomyelitis. Here, we describe the case of a 63-year-old male patient with a recent history of cardiac arrest, a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube placement, and endotracheal tube placement. He presented with back pain and was found to have osteomyelitis on magnetic resonance imaging and aortic valve vegetations on transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). His blood cultures were positive for E. faecalis. Repeat TTE showed growth in the vegetation, and the patient underwent bioprosthetic aortic valve replacement.