A mouth watering case of Mycoplasma salivarium native mitral valve endocarditis: ‘case report’

BACKGROUND: Mycoplasma salivarium is part of our commensal oral flora and readily resides in dental plaque. Although considered indolent, few case reports have documented its pathogenic potential in humans. To this day no case of Mycoplasma salivarium infectious endocarditis has ever been described. CASE PRESENTATION: Our report describes a challenging case of Mycoplasma salivarium endocarditis, with a patient presenting with oligoarticular joint swelling, and later on in the course of his disease developed signs of right-sided heart failure. The diagnosis was initially mistaken for septic gonarthritis and was later established on the basis of echocardiography and eubacterial PCR of joint fluid. CONCLUSION: This report describes a first documented case of Mycoplasma salivarium culture negative endocarditis that was successfully treated with targeted antimicrobial therapy. Specific antimicrobial therapy targeting Mycoplasma spp, lead to clinical improvement, with radiological regression of the lesion and the resolution of the serum inflammation biomarkers.