[Aortitis due to Salmonella].

HISTORY AND CLINICAL FINDINGS: A 72-year-old man received treatment with amoxicillin/clavulanic acid because of fever and abdominal pain as an outpatient setting. Salmonella enteritidis infection was confirmed by a positive blood culture. The febrile patient showed abdominal tenderness on palpation.

INVESTIGATIONS: CT and PET scans revealed an aneurysmatic soft tissue inflammation which was interpreted as infectious aortitis in the context of salmonella bacteraemia.

TREATMENT AND COURSE: After several weeks of antibiotic treatment with ceftriaxone, an elective reconstruction using xenopericard with replacement of the mesenterial vessels was performed. After a postoperative course of antibiotics the patient recovered completely.

CONCLUSION

In patients with positive blood cultures for Salmonella in combination with fever, back or abdominal pain a workup for infectious aortitis and a rapid treatment is recommended.