Spontaneous Gastric Perforation in a Healthy Child Associated With Sarcina ventriculi Infection.

Spontaneous gastric perforation is a rare but morbid condition in children. Recent reports have suggested that finding Sarcina ventriculi, a rare, Gram-positive anaerobic bacterium in the stomach, could be associated with gastric ulcers and rarely gastric perforation, predominantly in adults. Here, we describe a case of an 11-year-old otherwise healthy child who presented with acute onset of severe, diffuse abdominal pain, tenderness, and distension and was found to have peritonitis and shock. The emergent exploratory laparotomy revealed a 4-cm gastric perforation, and histopathologic examination of the subtotal gastric resection showed abundant growth of Sarcina ventriculi at the site of perforation. To our knowledge, this represents one of the very few reported cases and possibly the first well-documented case occurring in a previously healthy child with no identifiable predisposing conditions.