Sudden death in Staphylococcus aureus-associated infective endocarditis due to perforation of a free-wall myocardial abscess.

Free-wall myocardial abscess perforation with hemopericardium and sudden death is an extremely infrequent complication of infective endocarditis (IE). We describe a case of Staphylococcus aureus-associated native aortic and tricuspid valve endocarditis complicated by a septic myocardial infarction and abscess formation of embolic origin, with fatal rupture into the pericardium. To our knowledge, only 2 cases of myocardial abscess rupture have previously been reported in relation to IE.