BackgroundGranulicatella spp. is a fastidious bacteria responsible for bacteremia and endocarditis which are fatal in about 20% of the cases. These severe infections are uncommon in children under 17 years of age and have proven extremely difficult to treat.Cases presentationWe report a brief review of the literature and two cases of NVS bacteremia by Granulicatella complicated by infective endocarditis (IE). The first one is that of a 7-year-old Caucasian female with Shone syndrome and IE involving the pulmonary valve homograft, confirmed by echocardiography. The second case is that of a 5-year-old Caucasian male. In this patient echocardiogram was negative for signs of IE; however, a “possible” IE was suspected on the basis of a cardiac catheterization 3 weeks before the onset of fever. Since in both our patients clinical failure of first line antibiotic treatment was observed, we used a combination of meropenem with another anti-streptococcal drug with excellent results.ConclusionIn Granulicatella bacteremia in the pediatric population, combination antimicrobial therapy including meropenem should be considered as a second line treatment in non-responding patients.

In OHT recipients, pathologic evaluation of the heart during acute rejection can show involvement of both the conduction system and the myocardium. We here describe the cases of a 9-year-old male with DCM and a 13-year-old female with RCM, who developed third-degree PAVB associated with acute rejection 36 months and 24 months after OHT, respectively. We conclude that PAVB could be considered an early sign of acute rejection after OHT in children who exhibit post-transplantation presyncope or syncope.

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The term 'wandering spleen' refers to an abnormal hypermobility of the spleen, which may be congenital or acquired. The absence or abnormal laxity of splenic ligaments combined with an abnormally long and mobile vascular pedicle predispose to complications such as torsion of the splenic pedicle, infarction and splenic vein thrombosis. The clinical presentation of such disease is highly variable. In this case, we describe an asymptomatic case of wandering spleen in high thrombotic risk patients with cavernoma of splenic vein and infarction of the spleen. Physical examination was normal except the enlarged and no tender consistency spleen palpable at left iliac fossa. Ultrasonography revealed enlarged spleniform mass below its normal position suggesting vascular impairment and subsequently has been confirmed by colour Doppler ultrasound and computed tomography. The family history was positive for ischemic thrombotic vascular diseases and the screening for thrombotic risk has revealed hyperhomocysteinemia, thrombophilic homozygous gene mutations for factor V (H1299R) and MTHFR (C677T). For high thrombotic risk, prophylaxis postsplenectomy was suggested according to the international recommendations with subcutaneous low molecular weight heparin, associated with a preventive treatment with acetyl salicylic acid and folic acid along with B-vitamin. This case report may be helpful for clinicians involved in the care of splenectomized patients, because it has shown the importance of an appropriate pre and postoperative antithrombotic management to reduce as soon as possible the risk of thrombotic events in such patients after splenectomy.