Enterococcus faecium Mediastinitis Complicated by Disseminated Candida parapsilosis Infection after Congenital Heart Surgery in a 4-Week-Old Baby

Background. Cardiac surgery offers multiple treatment options for children with congenital heart defects. However, infectious complications still remain a major cause of morbidity and mortality in these patients. Mediastinitis is a detrimental complication in children undergoing cardiac surgery. The...

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Main Authors: Hanna Renk, Felix Neunhoeffer, Florian Hölzl, Michael Hofbeck, Matthias Kumpf
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2015-01-01
Series:Case Reports in Infectious Diseases
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/543685
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author Hanna Renk
Felix Neunhoeffer
Florian Hölzl
Michael Hofbeck
Matthias Kumpf
author_facet Hanna Renk
Felix Neunhoeffer
Florian Hölzl
Michael Hofbeck
Matthias Kumpf
author_sort Hanna Renk
collection DOAJ
description Background. Cardiac surgery offers multiple treatment options for children with congenital heart defects. However, infectious complications still remain a major cause of morbidity and mortality in these patients. Mediastinitis is a detrimental complication in children undergoing cardiac surgery. The risk of mediastinitis after delayed sternal closure is up to 10%. Case Presentation. We report a case of Enterococcus faecium mediastinitis in a 4-week-old female baby on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation after Norwood procedure. Although repeated antibiotic irrigation, debridement, and aggressive antibiotic treatment were started early, the pulmonary situation deteriorated. Candida parapsilosis was isolated from bronchoalveolar lavage after pulmonary hemorrhage. Disseminated C. parapsilosis infection with pulmonary involvement was treated with liposomal amphotericin B. Subsequently, inflammatory markers increased again and eventually C. parapsilosis was isolated from the central venous catheter. Conclusion. Children undergoing delayed sternal closure have a higher risk of mediastinitis. Therefore, antibiotic prophylaxis, for example, for soft tissue infection seems justified. However, long-term antibiotic treatment is a risk factor for fungal superinfection. Antifungal treatment of disseminated C. parapsilosis infection may fail in PICU patients with nonbiological material in place due to capacity of this species to form biofilms on medical devices. Immediate removal of central venous catheters and other nonbiological material is life-saving in these patients.
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spelling doaj-art-8b532c66ebbd437dbc1e9c8a68e6b4d32025-02-03T05:51:25ZengWileyCase Reports in Infectious Diseases2090-66252090-66332015-01-01201510.1155/2015/543685543685Enterococcus faecium Mediastinitis Complicated by Disseminated Candida parapsilosis Infection after Congenital Heart Surgery in a 4-Week-Old BabyHanna Renk0Felix Neunhoeffer1Florian Hölzl2Michael Hofbeck3Matthias Kumpf4University Children’s Hospital Tübingen, Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Pulmonology and Intensive Care Medicine, Hoppe-Seyler-Straße 1, 72076 Tübingen, GermanyUniversity Children’s Hospital Tübingen, Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Pulmonology and Intensive Care Medicine, Hoppe-Seyler-Straße 1, 72076 Tübingen, GermanyInstitute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, University of Tübingen, Elfriede-Aulhorn-Straße 6, 72076 Tübingen, GermanyUniversity Children’s Hospital Tübingen, Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Pulmonology and Intensive Care Medicine, Hoppe-Seyler-Straße 1, 72076 Tübingen, GermanyUniversity Children’s Hospital Tübingen, Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Pulmonology and Intensive Care Medicine, Hoppe-Seyler-Straße 1, 72076 Tübingen, GermanyBackground. Cardiac surgery offers multiple treatment options for children with congenital heart defects. However, infectious complications still remain a major cause of morbidity and mortality in these patients. Mediastinitis is a detrimental complication in children undergoing cardiac surgery. The risk of mediastinitis after delayed sternal closure is up to 10%. Case Presentation. We report a case of Enterococcus faecium mediastinitis in a 4-week-old female baby on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation after Norwood procedure. Although repeated antibiotic irrigation, debridement, and aggressive antibiotic treatment were started early, the pulmonary situation deteriorated. Candida parapsilosis was isolated from bronchoalveolar lavage after pulmonary hemorrhage. Disseminated C. parapsilosis infection with pulmonary involvement was treated with liposomal amphotericin B. Subsequently, inflammatory markers increased again and eventually C. parapsilosis was isolated from the central venous catheter. Conclusion. Children undergoing delayed sternal closure have a higher risk of mediastinitis. Therefore, antibiotic prophylaxis, for example, for soft tissue infection seems justified. However, long-term antibiotic treatment is a risk factor for fungal superinfection. Antifungal treatment of disseminated C. parapsilosis infection may fail in PICU patients with nonbiological material in place due to capacity of this species to form biofilms on medical devices. Immediate removal of central venous catheters and other nonbiological material is life-saving in these patients.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/543685
spellingShingle Hanna Renk
Felix Neunhoeffer
Florian Hölzl
Michael Hofbeck
Matthias Kumpf
Enterococcus faecium Mediastinitis Complicated by Disseminated Candida parapsilosis Infection after Congenital Heart Surgery in a 4-Week-Old Baby
Case Reports in Infectious Diseases
title Enterococcus faecium Mediastinitis Complicated by Disseminated Candida parapsilosis Infection after Congenital Heart Surgery in a 4-Week-Old Baby
title_full Enterococcus faecium Mediastinitis Complicated by Disseminated Candida parapsilosis Infection after Congenital Heart Surgery in a 4-Week-Old Baby
title_fullStr Enterococcus faecium Mediastinitis Complicated by Disseminated Candida parapsilosis Infection after Congenital Heart Surgery in a 4-Week-Old Baby
title_full_unstemmed Enterococcus faecium Mediastinitis Complicated by Disseminated Candida parapsilosis Infection after Congenital Heart Surgery in a 4-Week-Old Baby
title_short Enterococcus faecium Mediastinitis Complicated by Disseminated Candida parapsilosis Infection after Congenital Heart Surgery in a 4-Week-Old Baby
title_sort enterococcus faecium mediastinitis complicated by disseminated candida parapsilosis infection after congenital heart surgery in a 4 week old baby
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/543685
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