Staphylococcus aureus endocarditis in an uremic patient undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) infection is a frequently encountered problem in hemodialysis patients. As this organism is prone to develop metastatic infection, each episode of S. aureus bacteremia put the patients at risk of developing endocarditis. However, it is rarely reported in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis although these patients were also susceptible to S. aureus infection. This report presents a case of endocarditis in an uremic patient undergoing chronic peritoneal dialysis therapy. This patient presented with S. aureus bacteremia of unknown focus, but she experienced an episode of S. aureus peritonitis just two months ago. This patient died of complications despite aggressive treatment with appropriate antibiotics. This experience indicates that uremic patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis therapy are also susceptible to developing endocarditis due to S. aureus infection. Clinicians should be aware of this risk. Aggressive investigation for endocarditis should be undertaken when the S. aureus bacteremia course is prolonged or recurrent in dialysis patients.