Key result
A 41-year-old man developed myopericarditis with biventricular systolic dysfunction following a dog bite and Capnocytophaga canimorsus infection, with ventricular function normalizing after 8 days.
Why the study?
Capnocytophaga canimorsus infection occurs after a dog or cat bite, but myopericarditis caused by this organism is rarely described.
Case Report (n=1)
Highlights a rare cause of myopericarditis (C. canimorsus infection from a dog bite) mimicking myocardial infarction, where cardiac MRI is useful for diagnosis and risk stratification.
Alerts clinicians to C. canimorsus myopericarditis after dog bite; leaves open optimal diagnostic strategies.
Capnocytophaga canimorsus infection occurs after a dog/cat bite and asplenic patients are most vulnerable. We describe a rare case of myopericarditis due to C. canimorsus infection. A 41-year-old man presented with chest pain and ST-segment elevation to the coronary reperfusion service. He had been unwell for 3 days with fever and diarrhoea. Coronary angiography excluded coronary plaque rupture or occlusion, and transthoracic echocardiography revealed biventricular systolic dysfunction. Cardiac MRI confirmed myopericarditis with extensive circumferential midwall/epicardial late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) and hyposplenia. C. canimorsus was grown in blood cultures. The patient later revealed he had been bitten by a dog. Ventricular function normalised after 8 days. Myocarditis due to C. canimorsus has only been reported in an autopsy case series and one previous case report. We postulate previous cases of ‘myocardial infarction’ may have been cases of myocarditis. Cardiac MRI pattern of LGE was also helpful in risk stratification.
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Scullion et al. (2025) conducted a case report in Myopericarditis due to Capnocytophaga canimorsus infection (n=1). Capnocytophaga canimorsus infection was evaluated on Ventricular function normalization. A 41-year-old man developed myopericarditis with biventricular systolic dysfunction following a dog bite and Capnocytophaga canimorsus infection, with ventricular function normalizing after 8 days.
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