Expect the unexpected: endocarditis caused by Legionella feeleii

Angelica Moran; Dennise E Otero Espinal; Megan Parilla; Kathleen G Beavis; Kathleen M Mullane; Vera Tesic

doi:10.1093/labmed/lmae029

Expect the unexpected: endocarditis caused by Legionella feeleii

Lab Med. 2024 May 23:lmae029. doi: 10.1093/labmed/lmae029. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Angelica Moran¹, Dennise E Otero Espinal², Megan Parilla³, Kathleen G Beavis¹, Kathleen M Mullane⁴, Vera Tesic¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathology and Medicine, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, US.
² Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital, New York, NY, US.
³ Department of Pathology, NorthShore University Health System, Evanston, IL, US.
⁴ Department of Medicine, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, US.

PMID: 38780098
DOI: 10.1093/labmed/lmae029

Abstract

We report a fatal case of Legionella feeleii endocarditis in a post-lung transplant patient. The diagnosis was delayed, as routine microbiological testing of nonrespiratory specimens does not account for extrapulmonary Legionella, and urine antigen testing only reliably detects Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1. This case also illustrates the utility of molecular sequencing for blood culture-negative endocarditis.

Keywords: clinical pathology; laboratory medicine; microbiology; molecular diagnostics.

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