Mediastinal tissue friability-An unreported complication fromMycobacterium chimaerainfection post-cardiac surgery

Mycobacterium chimaeracan cause disseminated infection following cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass and contaminated heater-cooler devices. We discuss a 41-year-old man with a disseminatedM. chimaerainfection following surgery for a type A aortic dissection. His presentation included cachexia and dorsalgia with a work-up revealing vertebral osteomyelitis with an epidural abscess, bone marrow, and pulmonary infiltration, and fluid collection around his aortic graft. He received 1 month of antibiotics before the explantation of infected foreign material, mediastinal debridement, and aortic reconstruction. Complications included septic shock, respiratory and renal failure, mediastinitis, and four distal aortic anastomotic dehiscences from friable tissue and persistent infection.