Infective endocarditis of an interventricular patch caused by Acinetobacter haemolyticus.

A case of infective endocarditis caused by Acinetobacter haemolyticus affecting and interventricular patch is reported. The patient, a 21-year-old man with a Fallot's tetralogy who had undergone cardiovascular surgery several years before, received imipenem and gentamicin for 6 and 4 weeks respectively and showed a good response without needing surgical treatment. Endocarditis by Acinetobacter species is very unusual and, to our knowledge, this is the first reported case of infective endocarditis caused by A. haemolyticus. As the clinical characteristics and the response to antibiotics appear to be similar to those reported for infective endocarditis by Acinetobacter lwoffi, prosthetic infective endocarditis by A. haemolyticus is apparently not always an indication for surgical treatment.