Rothia spp. infective endocarditis: A systematic literature review

To describe the epidemiological, clinical, microbiological, and therapeutic features and outcomes of Rothia infective endocarditis (RIE) and extracardiac infections (ECRI).

We performed a systematic literature review of published cases of RIE and ECRI.

After inclusion of a personal case report, 51 cases of RIE and 215 cases of ECRI were reported. Compared with ECRI patients, RIE patients were significantly more often males (80% versus 59%), intravenous drug users (IVDU) (20% versus 3%), immunocompetent (76% versus 31%), and infected with R. dentocariosa (55% versus 13%) but lacked significant differences with regard to median age (45 years [6-79]), rate of orodental abnormalities (33%), and six-month mortality (14%). Following microbiological documentation, RIE was most often treated with a beta-lactam antibiotic alone (39%) for a median duration of six weeks and required surgery in 39% of cases.

RIE is rare and likely secondary to a dental portal of entry or cutaneous inoculation in IVDU. Its prognosis seems to be favorable.