Arq. Bras. Cardiol. 2022; 118(6): 1144-1146
Coxiella Burnetii Endocarditis: Can Positron Emission Tomography be an Alternative to Diagnosis?
Marjorie Hayashida Mizuta
, Cristhian Espinoza Romero
, Santiago Castro Vintimilla
, Tatiana de Carvalho Andreucci Torres Leal, Paulo Rogério Soares, Alexandre de Matos Soeiro
Introduction
Coxiella burnetii infective endocarditis (IE) represents a rarely reported zoonosis in Brazil. It is estimated that Coxiella burnetii is responsible for up to 5% of all IE cases worldwide. The disease affects mostly valvulopathy patients and immunocompromised subjects.
Different from the classical acute and sub-acute endocarditis, the clinical picture is frustrating, and, because this is an obligate intracellular microorganism, hemocultures (HMC) are predominantly negative, which makes the clinical suspicion more difficult.
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