Mycobacterium Abscessus Native Tricuspid Valve Endocarditis. Is a Six-Week Course of Combination Antibiotic Therapy Enough?

A 24-year-old Caucasian woman with a history of intravenous drug abuse and multiple hospital admissions for substance abuse related medical problems presented with pneumonia and was discharged home on oral antibiotics. Three days later, her blood culture grew acid fast bacilli, which was subsequently identified as M. abscessus subspecies abscessus. Transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiogram (TTE and TEE respectively) was suggestive of tricuspid valve (TV) endocarditis. CT scan of the chest showed evidence of septic pulmonary emboli, pneumonic consolidation and pleural effusion requiring chest tube placement. BAL and blood cultures grew Mycobacterium abscessus while pleural fluid cultures remained sterile. She was treated with a combination antibiotic therapy and completed a six-week course with resolution of her symptoms and microbiological cure. We present this rare case of M. abscessus native tricuspid valve endocarditis associated with lung infection treated with a short course of combination antibiotic therapy.