VANCOUVER — After a routine trip to the dentist, a Vancouver resident developed a deadly heart infection, as well as a bizarre, bulging lump on his right hand.
The curious case was published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine by UBC doctors Bashaar K. Alibrahim and George Wharmby.
The 27-year-old was diagnosed with endocarditis, an inflammation of the heart’s inner lining that is caused by bacteria. Just one in 30,000 people come down with the infection every year in the U.K. and U.S.
Even more curious, the infection appeared to have been triggered by a visit to a dentist. Alibrahim and Wharmby speculate that it was “possibly related to poor oral hygiene and a recent dental procedure.”
The man initially complained about a red patch on his hand, but over two weeks, it developed into the bizarre, blue lesion pictured above.
Six weeks after the dental checkup, the Vancouver man checked himself into hospital, complaining about the uncomfortable lump as well as constant abdominal pain.
Doctors tested the patient, discovering that he had been suffering from fevers, night sweats and a decreased appetite since seeing the dentist. The man had shed 12 pounds during the ordeal.
It was soon revealed that there was an infected mass on the man’s aortic valve.
Cultures of two blood samples returned positive for streptococcus salivarius, found primarily in the mouth. The doctors suggested that the bacteria may have become dislodged during the dental treatment, working their way to the heart and damaging the vessels supplying blood to his hand, creating the lump — an ulnar-artery mycotic aneurysm, according to the journal.
The man was treated with antibiotics, which cleared up the infection and wiped out the fevers and night sweats within just two days. However, surgery was necessary to replace the man’s aortic valve, as well as to repair the protrusion on his hand.
