A case of infective endocarditis caused by Streptococcus agalactiae, in a patient with advanced gastric cancer / 대한내과학회지

ABSTRACT

The epidemiology of Group B streptococcal disease has been changing. Since the 1990s, early-onset neonatal and maternal peripartum infections have decreased, due to the administration of prophylactic intrapartum antibiotics. On the other hand, invasive Group B streptococcal infections have increased in nonpregnant adults, especially in elderly persons and in those with chronic immunosuppressive diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, liver cirrhosis, and malignancies. Although infective endocarditis is an uncommon manifestation of invasive Streptococcus agalactiae infection, it usually leads to cardiac surgery, due to heart failure associated with rapid valve destruction and the formation of emboli. Several cases of endocarditis due to S. agalactiae have appeared in the literature, but there have been few reports in Korea. We present a case of S. agalactiae infective endocarditis in an elderly patient with advanced gastric cancer, successfully treated with intravenous antibiotics and cardiac surgery.