Myopericarditis due to Capnocytophaga canimorsus infection after a dog bite: A case report.

Abstract

Capnocytophaga canimorsus infection occurs after a dog/cat bite and asplenic patients are most vulnerable. We describe a rare case of myopericarditis due to C. canimorsus infection. A 41-year-old man presented with chest pain and ST-segment elevation to the coronary reperfusion service. He had been unwell for 3 days with fever and diarrhoea. Coronary angiography excluded coronary plaque rupture or occlusion, and transthoracic echocardiography revealed biventricular systolic dysfunction. Cardiac MRI confirmed myopericarditis with extensive circumferential midwall/epicardial late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) and hyposplenia. C. canimorsus was grown in blood cultures. The patient later revealed he had been bitten by a dog. Ventricular function normalised after 8 days. Myocarditis due to C. canimorsus has only been reported in an autopsy case series and one previous case report. We postulate previous cases of 'myocardial infarction' may have been cases of myocarditis. Cardiac MRI pattern of LGE was also helpful in risk stratification.