Abstract
Small colony variants (SCVs) are subpopulations of a bacterial strain that differ in morphology, growth rate, metabolism, and antibiotic sensitivity from the parent line. They are associated with chronic and difficult-to-treat infections. SCV endocarditis is very rare and usually associated with intracardiac devices. Herein, we report a case of endocarditis caused by SCV-forming Enterococcus faecalis that affected the native heart without any known predisposition.
Declaration of interest: This publication was supported by Charles University Prague, Research Project UNCE 204010. The contribution of R.P. was supported by the Internal Grant Agency of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic (Project NT12395-5/2011). P.S. acknowledges financial support from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic (Project CZ.1.07/2.3.00/20.0183). The authors declare no commercial relationship related to the submission.