Eustachian valve endocarditis: a case report on an under diagnosed entity

Abstract

Patients presenting with bacteremia and the presence of multiple infected emboli sites should be promptly investigated for heart valve endocarditis as the possible culprit. We present a case of Eustachian valve endocarditis secondary to multiple abdominal surgeries to highlight not only the importance of recognizing risks factors, other than intravenous drug use, in the pathogenesis of right sided endocarditis, but also to illustrate the significance of systematically interrogating all the heart valves, including the Eustachian valve during echocardiography.

Keywords

• eustachian valve
• endocarditis
• multi-lobar brain infarcts
• patent foramen ovale
• multi-lobar pneumonia
• abdominal surgery