Infective endocarditis - why should rheumatologists be aware?

Abstract

Infective endocarditis has a wide range of clinical manifestations, making the diagnosis complex. Musculoskeletal symptoms whose prevalence is not negligible are often underestimated. This clinical case is about a 44-year-old female patient with previous aortic and mitral valvuloplasty for rheumatic fever valve disease referred to the outpatient Rheumatology department for the migratory onset of pain and swelling of the left lateral malleolus, right wrist, right first finger and left fifth distal phalanx associated with painful punctate lesions of the digital pulps and lateral edge of the feet and migratory and painful erythematous papules lasting for three months. The susceptibility for IE combined with the finding of spleen infarcts, Osler's nodes and a microorganism from HACEK group on blood cultures supported the diagnosis of subacute infectious endocarditis. Other diagnoses were ruled out. The patient was treated with intravenous antibiotic therapy with complete resolution. This case aims to illustrate the difficulty in diagnosing subacute infective endocarditis, the importance of multidisciplinary work and to briefly review the musculoskeletal manifestations of infective endocarditis described in the literature.