Mycotic Iliac Artery Aneurysm Caused by Clostridium difficile in a Patient with Axillobifemoral Bypass for Leriche Syndrome

Clostridioides (Clostridium) difficile Pacemaker Infection

Clostridioides difficile is the leading cause of antibiotic-associated nosocomial diarrhea, but extra-intestinal manifestations are rare. We describe the first documented case of bacteraemia with pacemaker pocket and lead infection with the toxigenic C. difficile ribotype 014 with a lack of abdominal symptoms. The patient underwent pacemaker extraction and treatment with intravenous and oral vancomycin. Genotyping and molecular subtyping revealed clonality between pacemaker and intestinal isolates. This case illustrates the risk of intravascular device infections due to C. difficile. Even asymptomatic C. difficile colonization might pose a risk for prosthetic material infection.

Successful Treatment of Clostridium difficile Bacteremia with Aortic Mycotic Aneurysm in a Patient with Prior Endovascular Aortic Aneurysm Repair

The clinical spectrum of Clostridium difficile infection can range from benign gastrointestinal colonization to mild diarrhea and life threatening conditions such as pseudomembranous colitis and toxic megacolon. Extraintestinal manifestations of C. difficile are rare. Here, we report a patient with a history of an endovascular aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR) presenting with an endovascular leak complicated by C. difficile bacteremia and a mycotic aneurysm. He was successfully treated with an explant of the EVAR, an aorto-left renal bypass, and aorto-bi-iliac bypass graft placement along with a six-week duration of intravenous vancomycin and oral metronidazole.

Infective thoracic aortic aneurysm caused by Clostridium difficile after endovascular aortic repair

Clostridium difficile generally causes enterocolitis by producing pathogenic toxins, while extraintestinal infections with C. difficile are extremely rare. Here we report the first documented case of an infective thoracic aortic aneurysm caused by nontoxic C. difficile that occurred after vascular interventions including endovascular aortic repair. The present case illustrates that endovascular interventions may expose patients to the rare infection by yielding the ischemic intestinal tract as an entry site for the pathogen into the bloodstream and providing an anaerobic environment inside the thrombosed aneurysm.

Clostridium septicum Aortitis of the Infrarenal Abdominal Aorta

Clostridium septicum aortitis is a rare infection that has a strong association with occult colonic malignancy. There is also emerging evidence to support the combination of medical and surgical management over medical management alone. To the best of our knowledge, we report the 40th known case of C. septicum aortitis.