A Case of Infected Thoracoabdominal Aortic Aneurysm Caused by Citrobacter koseri

(Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Kikuna Memorial Hospital, Yokohama, Japan)

Atsushi Bito Yutaka Narahara
Noboru Murata and Noboru Yamamoto
The patient was a 58-year-old woman with untreated diabetes. She consulted a local doctor in May 2006 complaining of constipation that had persisted for 2 weeks, under gradually worsening abdominal pain. She was transferred to our hospital with a diagnosis of aortic aneurysm. Blood tests indicated high inflammatory response, and CT showed hematoma around the aorta from directly under the diaphragm to the level of superior mesenteric artery and influx of contrast medium into the hematoma. Control of the infection was first attempted with antibiotics, but eventually surgery was performed because the hematoma increased. The hematoma and aortic wall were completely excised from the local of the diaphragm to the level beneath the renal artery, with partial cardiopulmonary bypass and selective perfusion to abdominal branches, and anatomic reconstruction was performed with a synthetic graft and omental implantation. The hematoma was fetid and Citrobacter koseri was detected in culture. The patient was discharged after 4 weeks of antibiotic treatment, without complications and with satisfactory progress. At present, there has been no recurrence of infection in the 22 months since her discharge.
@Jpn. J. Cardiovasc. Surg. 37: 333-336 (2008)