The association of remote Streptococcus bovis bacteremia with colonic neoplasia.

We prospectively studied five patients with a remote history of Streptococcus bovis bacteremia who had not previously been evaluated for colonic pathology. This study was prompted by several reports of concomitant neoplasia in patients with recent S. bovis bacteremia. The patients were studied at a mean of 32 months after bacteremia. Despite the absence of other signs or symptoms suggestive of bowel disease, a negative test for occult blood in stool and a negative fecal culture for S. bovis, two patients were found to have neoplastic polyps of the colon. These findings suggest that the risk of colonic neoplasia in patients with remote S. bovis septicemia is similar to that found in patients with recent bacteremia, but evaluation of a larger group of these patients will be necessary to establish this risk.