Lactobacillus endocarditis in a healthy patient with probiotic use
Swetha Pasala,
Lillian Singer,
Tamoore Arshad,
Kenneth Roach
Affiliations
Swetha Pasala
Department of Medicine, Inova Fairfax Hospital, 3300 Gallows Road, Falls Church, VA, 20042, USA; Corresponding author at: Department of Internal Medicine, Inova Fairfax Hospital, 3300 Gallows Road, Falls Church, VA, 22042, USA.
Lillian Singer
VCU School of Medicine Inova Campus, 3300 Gallows Road, Falls Church, VA, 20042, USA
Tamoore Arshad
Department of Medicine, Inova Fairfax Hospital, 3300 Gallows Road, Falls Church, VA, 20042, USA
Kenneth Roach
Department of Medicine, Inova Fairfax Hospital, 3300 Gallows Road, Falls Church, VA, 20042, USA
Lactobacilli are commensal anaerobic gram-positive rod organisms that are normal flora of the oral, genitourinary, and gastrointestinal tracts. Lactobacillus rhamnosus is now commonly found in probiotics. They are rarely pathogenic, but occasional cases of bacteremia and associated endocarditis have been noted in patients with pre-disposing factors. We describe a case of Lactobacillus endocarditis in an otherwise healthy patient with probiotic use and gingival laceration and present an accompanying discussion of the potential association of probiotic formulations containing lactobacilli and systemic infection.
