LETTER TO EDITOR |
https://doi.org/10.5005/jp-journals-10071-23866 |
Staphylococcal Pyopericardium: A Rare and Fatal Complication Following a Common Viral Disease
1Department of Critical Care and Pulmonology, Nayati Multi Super Specialty Hospital, Mathura, UP, India
2Department of Critical Care, Pulmonology and Sleep Medicine, Nayati Multi Super Speciality Hospital, Mathura, UP, India
3,4Swami Rama Himalayan University of Medical Sciences, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
5Department of Internal Medicine, Nayati Medicity, Mathura, UP, India
Corresponding Author: Utpal Sarma, Department of Critical Care and Pulmonology, Nayati Multi Super Specialty Hospital, Mathura, UP, India, Phone: +91 8811079816, e-mail: drutpalrgci@gmail.com
How to cite this article: Sarma U, Mishra V, Aier I, et al. Staphylococcal Pyopericardium: A Rare and Fatal Complication Following a Common Viral Disease. Indian J Crit Care Med 2021;25(6):739–741.
Source of support: Nil
Conflict of interest: None
Contributor: Dr. Utpal Sarma is the principal author. All co-authors have contributed towards the manuscript equally.
Keywords: Dengue fever, Pyopericardium, Staphylococcal infection.
A 30-year-old male was presented to emergency department with 2 days history of high-grade fever and excruciating chest pain associated with chills and rigors. The pain was located in mid-chest and radiating to the left back. He is nonsmoker, nonalcoholic with no known comorbidity. Ten days earlier he had dengue seropositive (NS1 Ag) febrile illness and was discharged from hospital once fever subsided.
On admission, patient had BP of 140/90 mm of Hg, pulse rate 120/min (sinus rhythm), SpO2-98% on ambient air, and temperature of 102°F. Systemic examination showed chest was clear, heart sounds were normally audible, and no jugular venous engorgement. His chest X-ray on admission was normal. However on second day after admission, he developed respiratory distress requiring oxygen supplementation. A pericardial rub was audible and electrocardiogram showed ST changes. X-ray chest showed symmetrical enlargement of cardiac silhouette suggestive of pericardial effusion. 2D-echo confirmed the diagnosis of pericardial effusion (anterior 16 mm, posterior 12 mm, lateral 13 mm, RV anterior 7 mm). HRCT (high-resolution computed tomography) chest showed left-sided loculated pleural effusion, with a few thick-walled cavitary lesions in both lungs and hepatomegaly. Patient was started with intravenous continuous infusion of flucloxacillin infusion at 12 gm in a day and injection gentamycin once-daily dose. Two blood cultures grew coagulase-positive Staphylococcus aureus. Pericardial and pleural tapping under image guidance revealed exudative fluid with high cell count with neutrophilic predominance. Fever and chest pain resolved within 8 days. Repeat echocardiography after 1 week showed reduction in the volume of pericardial effusion. Pleural fluid at this time showed marked reduction in cells. After 10 days of intravenous therapy, antibiotic was switched to oral cloxacillin 1 gm 6 hourly and continued for 4 weeks. The patient recovered completely during this period (Figs. 1 to 3).
Figs. 1A and B: (A) X-ray chest showed symmetrical enlargement of cardiac silhouette suggestive of pericardial effusion (inverted water-bottle sign). (B) 2D-echo image showing moderate pericardial effusion (anterior 16 mm, posterior 12 mm, lateral 13 mm, RV anterior 7 mm)
Fig. 2: Chest X-ray at the time of discharge of the patient
Figs. 3A to D: HRCT chest showed left-sided loculated pleural effusion, with a few thick-walled cavitary lesions in both lungs
Staphylococcal infection following dengue is infrequently reported.1–3 One of the proposed mechanisms to explain coinfections in dengue is the damage of endothelial barrier rendering it possible to enter pathogens into circulation.4 Acute pyopericardium is a potentially life-threatening illness associated with a mortality of up to 50%, with the majority of deaths due to cardiac tamponade (Table 1).
Body fluids | Pretreatment | Posttreatment |
---|---|---|
Pleural | TLC 150 | 40 |
L 95% | 92% | |
N 5% | 8% | |
Pericardial | TLC 4155 | |
L 5% | ||
N 95% |
In our case, the diagnosis was made by echocardiography and biochemistry of aspirated pus from pleural and pericardium.
ORCIDS
Utpal Sarma https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9623-6138
Vipul Mishra https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6372-5610
Imliwati Aier https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7073-7890
Veena Boswal https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1529-0955
Jyoti Goyal https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4608-1809
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2. Araújo SA, Moreira DR, Veloso JM, Silva JO, Barros VL, Nobre V. Fatal Staphylococcal infection following classic Dengue fever. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2010;83(3):679–682. DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.2010.10-0009.
3. Chai LY, Lim PL, Lee CC, Hsu LY, Teoh YL, Lye DC, et al. Cluster of Staphylococcus aureus and dengue co-infection in Singapore. Ann Acad Med Singap 2007;36(10):847–850. Available at: https://www.annals.edu.sg/PDF/36VolNo10Oct2007/V36N10p847.pdf
4. Lin CF, Lei HY, Shiau AL, Liu HS, Yeh TM, Chen SH, et al. Endothelial cell apoptosis induced by antibodies against dengue virus nonstructural protein 1 via production of nitric oxide. J Immunol 2002;169(2):657–664. DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.169.2.657.
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