Bacterial Pericarditis due to Providencia stuartii An Atypical Case of Relapsing Pericarditis

A 58-year-old man was admitted for relapsing pericarditis. His past medical history included a transient ischemic attack when he was 47 years old, radical right nephrectomy for neoplasia 8 years earlier, and hypertension. One year earlier, a diagnosis of pleuropericarditis was made in another hospital. The patient was febrile and complained of chest pain; an echocardiogram showed thickening of parietal pericardium, hyperechoic matter on visceral pericardium, and the presence of pericardial and pleural effusion, without hemodynamic impairment. Concomitantly, the patient had a dental abscess; cultures from this abscess were negative during antibiotic therapy. He was treated empirically with piperacillin/tazobactam for 15 days and then with amoxicillin/clavulanate for ≈1 month and …