Presentation
A 61-year-old male (he/him) with a history of a subarachnoid hemorrhage from a basilar artery aneurysm, and who had and was treated for hepatitis C, presented for evaluation of right and left shoulder pain. He has had the pain for about 3 months and denies any other symptoms except for some episodes of chills. The patient left against medical advice (AMA) to care for his pet. Upon readmission, his lab results demonstrated chronic inflammation, and his shoulder CT imaging showed concern for either osteoarthritis or septic arthritis. He had imaging of his heart, due to substernal chest pain, which showed aortic regurgitation and concern for endocarditis. He was treated empirically with antibiotics and pain medication. The patient’s anaerobic blood culture bottle flagged positive 3 days after collection and the Gram stain showed branching gram-negative rods that are curved, long and fusiform.
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Author Information
Carissa Harvest, Ph.D., Senior Clinical Microbiology Fellow, University of Washington.
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