The following report illustrates a case of a 36-year-old Caucasian male with intravenous drug use (IVDU) induced septic thrombophlebitis presenting with recurrent unilateral pneumothoraces from septic pulmonary embolism (SPE) without the presence of obvious right-sided valvular vegetation in infective endocarditis (IE), defined as tricuspid or pulmonary valve lesions. Pneumothorax (PTX) has been observed as a rare complication of SPE and is commonly associated with infective right-sided IE, IVDU, and intravascular indwelling catheters. However, this case is novel as it is the very rare documented case of recurrent, unilateral, spontaneous right PTX refractory to multiple chest tube placements in such a setting. Therefore, the absence of detectable right-sided valvular vegetation in IE does not obviate the risk of SPE-induced PTX in IVDU and further expands the realm of infectious and pulmonary consequences of SPE and IVDU.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.