Sarcina Ventriculi Associated Gastritis: A Case Report of Two Cases

Summary: Sarcina Ventriculi is a type of gram-positive bacteria that is capable of surviving in extremely acidic environments. Goodsirin was the first to describe it in 1842, and since then only a few cases have been reported. A delayed gastric emptying or obstruction of the gastric outlet are often associated with it. However, its pathogenicity in humans is not well established. It can be associated with severe conditions like perforation of the stomach and emphysematous gastritis. In this paper, we report two cases of Sarcina Ventriculi found in the gastric biopsies. Our first case was a thirty-five-year-old male with clinical symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease for the past five years. Impression on esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) was of moderate to severe gastritis in body and antrum of the stomach. In our second case, a sixty-year-old man had been suffering from vomiting, abdominal pain, anorexia, and weight loss for two months. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) demonstrated a large, ulcerated growth in the antrum. Clinical impression was of gastric carcinoma. Histology in both of case showed small spherical micro-organisms in a tetrad arrangement. A positive immunostaining for Helicobacter pylori was found in our first cases with moderate Helicobacter pylori colonization. In stomach biopsies, the diagnosis of Sarcina Ventriculi should be documented in the report, due to its associations and potential complications.