Düzce Tıp Fakültesi Dergisi (Oct 2015)
A Case of Fatal Bacterial Meningitis Caused by Enterococcus Faecalis: Postmortem Diagnosis
Abstract
Enterococcus species rarely cause bacterial meningitis without predisposing factors such as trauma, brain surgery, etc. In this study, we present a bacterial meningitis case caused by Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis) in a 13-year-old male who was found dead at home. One hundred and forty two cm tall, 37 kg weight male had admitted to hospital two days after the beginning of complaints such as weakness, headache, swelling of left eye, nausea and vomiting. Body temperature was 37.3 oC, leucocyte count 22100/ mm3, and CRP 71 g/dl at the hospital admission. Antibiotic treatment with amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (625 mg) was given to the patient but he was found dead in his house the day after. In autopsy; yellow-green purulant liquid in left frontoparietal zone, fullness of meningeal vessels and oedema was seen in brain. Isolated bacteria in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was identificated as E. faecalis by mini API 32 Strep®. Postmortem microbiological sampling in autopsy and defining etiologic agents is important for rare meningitis cases in which antemortem identification could not be done before death.
