CASE REPORT article

Front. Pediatr.

Sec. Pediatric Infectious Diseases

Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2025.1625229

"Non-Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage in a 13-Year-Old Male with Infective Endocarditis Caused by

Provisionally accepted
Anas K. AssiAnas K. Assi1*Habeeb H. AwwadHabeeb H. Awwad1Riman A. SultanRiman A. Sultan1Zaina A. KhaledZaina A. Khaled1Sara N. FatoumSara N. Fatoum1Abdalwahab KharoushaAbdalwahab Kharousha2Hadi DababsehHadi Dababseh2Rabee AdwanRabee Adwan1,3
  • 1Faculty of Medicine, Al-Quds University, Jerusalem, Palestine
  • 2Department of Neurosurgery, Istishari Arab Hospital, Ramallah, Palestine
  • 3Department of Infectious Diseases, Istishari Arab Hospital, Ramallah, Palestine

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Introduction: Introduction: Infective endocarditis (IE) is a rare but serious condition. It is commonly caused by viridans group streptococci (VGS) or Staphylococcus aureus, often in the presence of structural heart disease. Rare organisms, like Abiotrophia defective (A. defective), can cause IE. Although resistance may not be present in every case, infections caused by this organism are often associated with a more complicated clinical course and may require tailored treatment strategies. In this case, antimicrobial susceptibility testing indicated broad susceptibility, and no resistance was observed in the isolated strain.Case presentation: A 13-year-old boy arrived with a severe headache and fever. He had previously been misdiagnosed with infective endocarditis (IE) caused by VGS based on blood cultures and echocardiography, which revealed severe mitral regurgitation (MR), and he received treatment. Despite therapy, he developed a non-aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), as confirmed by CT and MRI. A repeat echocardiography revealed mitral valve prolapse (MVP), new vegetations, and pericardial effusion, as a complication of A. defectiva identified later on blood cultures as the causative organism, which led to a revised diagnosis of IE. He remained stable with appropriate treatment, with no neurological abnormalities.We report a case of A. defectiva IE that is exacerbated by non-aneurysmal SAH. It emphasizes the significance of taking IE into account in kids who have neurological symptoms, as well as the necessity of close observation for uncommon but serious causative organisms.

Keywords: Our institution has exempted this study from ethical review Infective endocarditis, A. defectiva, Subarachnoid Hemorrhage, Mitral Valve Prolapse, pediatric neurology

Received: 08 May 2025; Accepted: 09 Jul 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Assi, Awwad, Sultan, Khaled, Fatoum, Kharousha, Dababseh and Adwan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Anas K. Assi, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Quds University, Jerusalem, Palestine

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Supplementary Material