Unilateral Osler nodes, Janeway lesions and splinter haemorrhages associated with surgical arterio-venous fistula infection: a case report

BACKGROUND: Osler’s nodes, Janeway lesions and splinter haemorrhages are cutaneous manifestations of infective endocarditis. They occur due to vascular occlusion by septic emboli and a resulting localized vasculitis. They are usually bilateral. We report a case of unilateral Osler’s nodes, Janeway lesions and splinter haemorrhages due to an ipsilateral surgical arterio-venous fistula infection. CASE PRESENTATION: A fifty-two-year-old Sri Lankan female with end stage kidney disease presented with fever for five days with blurred vision, pain and redness of the right eye. She had a left brachio-cephalic arterio-venous fistula (AVF) created one month back. She complained of a foul-smelling discharge from the surgical site for past three days. Redness of the right eye with a hypopyon was noted. AVF site over the left cubital fossa was infected with a purulent discharge. Osler’s nodes, Janeway lesions and splinter haemorrhages were noted in the distal fingers, thenar and hypothenar eminences of the left hand. Right hand and both feet were normal. No cardiac murmurs were heard. Blood cultures, vitreous sample cultures and pus cultures from the fistula site were all positive for methicillin sensitive Staphylococcus aureus. Infective endocarditis was excluded by a trans-oesophageal echocardiogram. She was treated with IV flucloxacillin and surgical excision of the AVF. CONCLUSION: Infections of AVF can result in septic emboli formation which can have both anterograde arterial embolization and retrograde venous embolization. Arterial embolization can result in unilateral Osler’s nodes, Janeway lesions and splinter haemorrhages. Venous embolization can cause metastatic infections in the systemic and pulmonary circulations.