FATAL SERRATIA-MARCESCENS MENINGITIS AND MYOCARDITIS IN A PATIENT WITH AN INDWELLING URINARY CATHETER

Serratia marcescens is commonly isolated from the urine of patients wi th an indwelling urinary catheter and in the absence of symptoms is of ten regarded as a contaminant. A case of fatal Serratia marcescens sep ticaemia with meningitis, brain abscesses, and myocarditis discovered at necropsy is described. The patient was an 83 year old man with an i ndwelling urinary catheter who suffered from several chronic medical c onditions and from whose urine Serratia marcescens was isolated at the time of catheterisation. Serratia marcescens can be a virulent pathog en in particular groups of patients and when assessing its significanc e in catheter urine specimens, consideration should be given to recogn ised risk factors such as old age, previous antibiotic treatment, and underlying chronic or debilitating disease, even in the absence of cli nical symptoms.