How to get rid of the bug in the heart-An infected catheter-associated thrombus treated successfully with antibiotics only.

We present a case of a 53-year-old woman with end-stage renal disease, on hemodialysis for 4 years, who was diagnosed with an infected catheter-associated right atrial thrombus (CRAT). CRAT is an underreported and potentially life-threating complication of a central venous catheter and usually warrants a surgical approach. The patient was, however, disqualified by cardiac surgeons due to her overall poor condition. We used a combination of anticoagulation and antibiotics in the reported case as "rescue therapy" and showed that the successful resolution of CRAT complicated by infection might sometimes be feasible with pharmacological treatment only.