老年感染性心内膜炎住院患者合并脑卒中临床分析

目的:探讨老年感染性心内膜炎(IE)患者脑卒中的发生规律。方法:回顾性分析北京安贞医院,近10年收治的年龄>60岁诊断为IE患者的临床资料。结果:共纳入63例患者,其中男性47例,女性16例,年龄在60~82岁,平均年龄(68.0±5.6)岁。包含5例人工心脏瓣膜心内膜炎,其余为自然瓣膜性心内膜炎。左侧心内膜炎57例,其余6例为右侧心内膜炎。62例患者(98.4%)经过彩色超声心动图或手术所见发现赘生物。23例患者合并脑卒中,占36.5%,3例为静止性脑梗死,20例患者为症状性脑卒中,其中症状性脑梗死15例,脑出血1例,蛛网膜下腔出血1例,另外3例患者因未行神经影像学检查无法定性。脑梗死主要分布于颈内动脉系统。脑卒中组二尖瓣赘生物发生率显著高于不伴脑卒中的患者(69.5%vs.40%,P=0.024),二尖瓣赘生物对脑卒中的(OR=3.429,95%CI:1.152~10.202)。合并脑卒中组病死率显著高于不伴有脑卒中的患者(21.7%vs.2.5%,P=0.012),脑卒中对于死亡的(OR=10.833,95%CI:1.178~99.595)。结论:在老年住院IE患者中,脑卒中发病常见。二尖瓣赘生物是脑卒中发生的危险因素,而脑卒中显著增加老年IE患者病死率。     

Clinical course and complications of infective endocarditis in patients growing up with congenital heart disease

BACKGROUND: Although a high number of patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) undergo surgical palliation or definite correction up to adolescence, adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) may remain a potential lifelong risk factor for infective endocarditis (IE) in patients growing up with congenital heart disease (GUCH). METHODS: In a retrospective case study of a tertiary care center long-term clinical course and complications of patients with IE and GUCH were analysed. RESULTS: Data of 52 patients with CHD, who fulfilled the Saiman criteria for infective endocarditis and were treated between April 1986 and March 2001, were identified: Risk factors for infective endocarditis were previous cardiovascular operation (51.9%), use of foreign material (38.5%), dental or other surgical procedures without recommended antibiotic prophylaxis (25.0%), or cardiac catheterization (5.8%). Staphylococcal (38.9%) or streptococcal species (35.2%) were cultivated in most cases as causative microorganisms. Complications were: recurrence of IE (7.7%), septic embolisms (30.8%) leading to central nervous complications (7.7%), embolism of pulmonary arteries (7.7%), renal arteries (1.9%), arteries of the extremities (9.6%), or infarction of spleen (1.9%). Other cardiac (23.1%) or extracardiac (13.5%) complications were frequent. The need of re-operations during or after IE was high (67.3%). The hospital mortality was 1.9%, late mortality was 7.7%. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with IE and CHD show a broad clinical spectrum of cardiac and extracardiac complications. They may lead to a complicative short- and long-term course with the potential risk of death and a high number of re-operation. Efforts have to be made to improve long-term outcome of patients with ACHD by an interdisciplinary cooperation.     

Characteristics of infectious endocarditis in ventricular septal defects in children and adults

The aim of this retrospective study was to analyse cases of infectious endocarditis (IE) of native or repaired ventricular septal defects (VSD) to determine its incidence, the circumstances of its occurrences, the outcome and prognosis of this complication. From 1966 to 2002, 36 IE occurred in 19 boys and 17 girls: the age at diagnosis was 13.4 +/- 11.8 years; 26 had an isolated VSD and 10 had VSD associated with a minor lesion. Eleven of the 36 cases (30.5%) had been previously operated: repair of an isolated VSD with a patch in 5 cases, associated with a Crafoord procedure for coarctation of the aorta in 2 cases, three times with conservative treatment of associated aortic regurgitation (AR) and with ligature of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in 1 case. Twenty-five of the 36 cases (69.5%) had not been operated before: 21 isolated type 1 VSD; 2 VSD + AR, 1 VSD with PDA (undiagnosed), 1 VSD with valvular pulmonary stenosis (PS). The portal of entry was post-surgical in 7 out of 36 cases (19.4%): 4 VSD patches, 2 VSD patches + Crafoord and 1 VSD patch with ligature of PDA. The source of infection was dental in 14 out of the 36 cases (38.9%): one isolated VSD repair with residual shunt, 11 native VSDs, and 2 cases of unoperated VSD + AR. The other infectious causes (15 = 41.7%) were ENT (2 cases), skin (2 cases), gastrointestinal (2 cases), pulmonary (1 case) or unknown (8 cases), on operated lesions (3 VSD patches + AR) or native lesions (12 cases: 10 isolated VSDs, 1 VSD with PSD and 1 VSD with PS). Twelve episodes occurred (33.3%) despite antibiotic prophylaxis, 7 out of 7 post-surgical and 5 out of 14 dental cases. The commonest localisation was the tricuspid valve (10 cases, always in isolated VSD). Embolism was observed in 60% of right heart endocarditis (always multiple) and in 55% of IE of the left heart (single embolism). Early surgery was required in 6 patients (16.7%). The risk of early surgery was higher in patients with VSDs associated with other lesions (4 out of 10 = 40%) than in isolated VSD (2 out of 26, 7.7%, p = 0.027). Thirteen patients underwent secondary surgery after an average interval of 2.96 years, median 0.86 years (from 4 months to 22.8 years) for VSD repair (10 cases), aortic valve replacement (2 cases) and aorto-aortic conduit (1 case). The global follow-up period was 7.4 +/- 8.3 years, from 28 days to 27.9 years (median 3.3 years). Five deaths were observed on average 3.7 +/- 6.2 years after the episode of IE (median 6 months): 2 were early, occurring less than 6 months after IE and directly related to the infective episode. The survival was 97.1% at 1 month, 94.3% at 6 months, 91.4% at 1 year and 86.6% at 5 and 10 years after IE. VSD is a benign cardiac lesion, the prognosis of which can be severely compromised by infectious endocarditis: surgical repair reduces the risk but does not totally exclude it because of minor associated abnormalities. Prophylactic antibiotic therapy and the diagnosis of latent infectious problems, particularly dental, remains essential before and after cardiac surgery.     

Incidence and complication rate of infective endocarditis in the Dutch region of Walcheren: a 3-year retrospective study

OBJECTIVE: To measure the incidence of infective endocarditis (IE) in the region of Walcheren and to estimate the complication and comorbidity rate of IE, we conducted a 3-year retrospective study of IE in the only hospital (Ziekenhuis Walcheren) of the region between January, 2002 and December, 2004. RESULTS: The total number of cases was 32. The calculated yearly incidence of IE was 9.61 cases per 100.000 inhabitants per year. The median age was 64 years (range 36-81 years). When applying the Duke criteria 28 patients (87.5%) were classified as definite IE and 4 patients (12.5%) as possible IE. Blood cultures were positive in 27 patients (84.4%). The most commonly isolated organisms were streptococci (37.5%). Staphylococcus aureus was isolated in 31.3% of positive blood cultures. Enteroccocus faecalis was identified in 3 cases (9.4%). In only 15.6% of the cases was the course of IE uncomplicated. The most frequent complications were heart failure (59.4%) and embolic events (34.4%). Cardiac surgery was performed in 37.5% of the cases. Concomitant morbidity was found in 75% of the patients. Especially, the high incidences of diabetes mellitus (28.1%), chronic renal failure (28.1%) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (21.9%) were remarkable. CONCLUSION: The calculated incidence of IE of 9.61 cases per 100,000 inhabitants per year was more than five times higher than the one reported in a nation-wide Dutch study of 1992. The present study demonstrates that IE remains a disease with a considerable mortality and complication rate. The majority of the patients with IE had non-cardiac comorbidity. Especially, the prevalence of diabetes mellitus and chronic renal failure in our population of patients with IE is remarkable.     

Nosocomial endocarditis in a tertiary hospital: an increasing trend in native valve cases

INTRODUCTION: Changes in the etiology, epidemiology, and outcome of infective endocarditis (IE) have been observed in recent years. Newer invasive therapeutic interventions have increased the risk of bacteremia and nosocomial endocarditis in the population at risk. A retrospective analysis of hospital-acquired IE cases was performed in a tertiary hospital during 1985 to 1999. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Cases included were those classified as "probable" or "definite" by the IE diagnostic criteria of Durack. Nosocomial acquisition was considered if diagnosis was made > 72 h after hospital admission and there was no evidence that IE was present at the time of admission. Patients receiving a diagnosis within 60 days of a previous hospital admission were also classified as nosocomial, when a risk procedure for bacteremia was performed, or when any predisposing factor for IE was present during hospitalization. Early prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE) cases (< 1 year) were excluded from the analysis. Clinical characteristics, etiology, predisposing cardiac condition, source of infection, and outcome were analyzed. Results were compared with those obtained in community-acquired cases. RESULTS: Of 493 cases of IE diagnosed over 15 years, 38 were considered to be hospital acquired. Twenty-eight cases were native valve endocarditis (NVE) in non-IV drug user patients, and 10 cases were late PVE. Overall, the most frequent microorganisms involved were staphylococci (58%). The main sources of infection were intravascular procedures or catheter-related infections (55%). When nosocomial NVE cases were compared with community-acquired cases, mortality was greater (29% vs 9.7%) in hospital-acquired endocarditis. Analysis of time trends showed an increased rate of nosocomial cases in NVE throughout the years of the study. CONCLUSIONS: In NVE, the number of cases that are hospital acquired has been increasing during the last 15 years. These cases are frequently associated with invasive intravascular procedures or IV catheter-related infections. Most patients have a previous valvulopathy that predisposes to IE. The spectrum of microorganisms involved is different from the community-acquired cases. Also, the outcome of endocarditis is worse in nosocomial NVE patients.     

Osteoarticular infections complicating infective endocarditis: a study of 30 cases between 1969 and 2002 in a tertiary referral centre

Osteoarticular infections (osteomyelitis and septic arthritis) were studied in 693 episodes of infective endocarditis (IE) presenting to St. Thomas' Hospital (STH) between 1969 and 2002. The incidence of osteoarticular infections (OAI) was 4.3% (30/693). In intravenous drug users (IVDU), the incidence of OAI was 17.6% (9/51). 22 (73%) were clinically definite by the modified Duke criteria and 8 (27%) were probable. The respective figures using the St. Thomas' modified criteria were 83% and 17%. Blood cultures were positive in 93% (27/29). Only Gram-positive organisms were isolated. Infection mainly involved the vertebrae and large joints. Culture of joint fluid or bone was positive in 82% of cases (14/17). Over half the patients who developed OAI had major embolic complications of IE and the overall mortality was 33%. Bivariate analysis of risk factors for OAI in endocarditis showed statistical significance for S. aureus bacteraemia (OR 4.2, 1.9-9.3), IVDU (OR 6.3, 2.5-15.7), tricuspid valve involvement (OR 4.2, 1.8-9.6), pulmonary emboli (OR 3.9, 1.2-11.8) and emboli to the CNS (3.9, 1.5-9.9); on multivariate analysis, however, only S. aureus bacteraemia (OR 3.9, CI 2.5-5.9) and IVDU ( OR 3.2, CI 2.0-5.2) were associated with OAI in IE.     

经导管封堵器置入术后迟发感染性心内膜炎临床特点分析

目的分析经导管封堵器置入术后迟发(术后≥6个月)感染性心内膜炎(IE)的临床特点。方法报道北京协和医院收治的1例封堵器置入术后8年发生IE的病例,并分析国内外数据库中经导管封堵器置入术后迟发IE的病例特点。结果北京协和医院1例23岁女性,房间隔缺损封堵术后8年出现发热,脑栓塞,超声心动图示封堵器左心房面赘生物,给予抗感染及手术移除封堵器。文献报道经导管封堵器置入术后迟发IE 16例(男10例/女6例),其中房间隔缺损封堵术后9例,卵圆孔未闭封堵术后3例,二尖瓣人工瓣瓣周漏封堵术后2例,动脉导管未闭封堵术后1例,室间隔缺损封堵术后1例。发生IE时间为封堵术后7个月~16年,发热和栓塞是最常见的临床表现。发生IE前有6例感染,3例行牙科治疗。血培养最常见细菌是金黄色葡萄球菌。14例行手术治疗,术中所见与术前超声心动图检查基本吻合,8例存在封堵器内皮化不全。结论经导管封堵器置入术后患者长期有IE的风险,特别是出现感染情况时,发生IE后多数需手术治疗。封堵器内皮化不全可能与封堵术后迟发IE相关。     

The changing pattern of infective endocarditis in childhood

Forty-eight cases of infective endocarditis (IE) that occurred in 42 patients with congenital heart disease were reviewed from 1970 through 1990 and were compared with a 20-year review of 108 cases diagnosed between 1953 and 1972. The review demonstrates that the natural history of IE in children has changed over the last 2 decades, with half of the cases occurring after surgery for congenital heart disease. In the postoperative group, 46% of patients had undergone valve replacement and 7 of these (29%) had a right ventricular to pulmonary artery valved conduit as the site for IE, suggesting significant additional risk in this setting. Among patients with nonsurgically treated congenital heart disease and IE, mitral valve prolapse has emerged as an important underlying heart lesion occurring in 29% of patients. The bacterial spectrum has shifted, with a significant increase in the incidence of uncommon causative organisms. Mortality has continued to decline with survivorship of 90% in this series.     

Conservative mitral valve surgery in the treatment of mitral regurgitation due to infective endocarditis. Report of 21 cases

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the feasibility of mitral valve repair in patients with infective endocarditis (IE). METHODS AND RESULTS: Forty-seven patients operated for mitral endocarditis between 1995 and 2005; 21 underwent mitral valve repair. The repair was performed for acute endocarditis in seven patients at a median of 14 days after the onset of treatment and 14 patients for healed endocarditis after a median of six months. RESULTS: Mitral valve repair was feasible in 21 patients (45%). This repair involved mitral annuloplasty in 16 patients (76%), shortening or transposition of chordae in 10 patients (48%), a pericardial patch in five patients (24%), and suture of perforation in two patients (9%). Associated procedures were aortic valve replacement in seven patients and tricuspid annuloplasty in two. There were no operative deaths. The mean follow up was five years (one to 11). One patient was reoperated for severe mitral regurgitation and another had a stroke due to cerebrovascular embolism in the first postoperative years. No recurrence of infectious endocarditis occurred. CONCLUSIONS: Mitral valve repair in IE gives satisfactory results in terms of survival and symptomatic improvement with a low operative risk. With antibiotic therapy, it provides a cure of mitral lesions even when carried out in the acute phase of endocarditis. Finally, it feasible in several cases with excellent results.     

Active infective endocarditis observed in an Indian hospital 1981-1991.

Clinical data from 186 patients (133 males and 53 females) with 190 episodes of infective endocarditis (IE) occurring between January 1981 and July 1991 were studied retrospectively at a large referral hospital in Northern India with the intention of highlighting certain essential differences from those reported in the West. The mean age was much lower (25 +/- SD 12 years, range 2 to 75 years). Rheumatic heart disease was the most frequent underlying heart lesion accounting for 79 patients (42%). This was followed by congenital heart disease in 62 (33%) and normal valve endocarditis in 17 (9%). Twenty-four patients had either aortic regurgitation (n = 15) or mitral regurgitation (n = 9) of uncertain etiology. Prosthetic valve infection and mitral valve prolapse were present in only 2 patients each. A definite predisposing factor could be identified in only 28 patients (15%). Postabortal sepsis and sepsis related to childbirth accounted for 6 and 5 cases, respectively. Only 1 patient had history of intravenous drug abuse. Two-dimensional echocardiography showed vegetations in 121 patients (64%). Blood cultures were positive in only 87 (47%), with a total of 90 microbial isolates. Commonest infecting organisms were staphylococci (37 cases) and streptococci (34 cases). Except for a significantly higher number of patients with neurologic complications in the culture-negative group, there were no differences between patients with culture-positive and culture-negative IE. Of the 190 episodes of IE, the patients had received antibiotics before admission in 110 (58%) instances. A significantly greater number of culture-negative patients had received antibiotics than did culture-positive patients (87 vs 23, p < 0.001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Infective endocarditis: report of a prospective study in an Indian hospital

Forty-six patients who fulfilled the Duke's clinical diagnostic criteria for infective endocarditis (IE) were evaluated. Thirty-five (76%) patients were below 40 years of age with rheumatic heart disease being the most common underlying heart lesion affecting 26 (56%). An obvious predisposing cardiac lesion could not be ascertained in 22%. Blood culture positivity was 44% with streptococcus heading the list. The incidence of the staphylococcal (25%) and gram negative bacillary endocarditis (15%) were found to be increasing. Streptococci were susceptible to penicillin with minimum bactericidal concentration: minimum inhibitory concentration within acceptable limits. However, the appearance of methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus and high level gentamicin resistant enterococcus as aetiological agents of infective endocarditis were found to add to the complexity of the problem. With the emergence of drug-resistant organisms as causative agents of IE, whenever medical therapy is the primary method of treatment of this condition, the selection of antibiotics should depend upon extensive in vitro testing and in vivo monitoring of clinical efficacy.     

Hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy and infective endocarditis: a report of seven cases and a review of the literature

Seven cases of infective endocarditis (IE) in patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM) are presented in this report. The previous literature is critically reviewed, and the following points are discussed: (a) IE complicates HOCM in 5-9% of cases; (b) anatomical and haemodynamic alterations of HOCM cause microtraumas on heart valves and the endocardium; the resulting endocardial lesions represent sites for bacterial seeding as well as other congenital or acquired heart disease; (c) prognosis is worse in patients with IE associated with HOCM than in patients with IE alone or associated with congenital heart disease; (d) the most frequently isolated organisms are saprophytes; (e) most patients were exposed to bacteraemias before the onset of IE.     

Infectious endocarditis in the University Hospital Center of Brazzaville. A study of 32 cases

Thirty-eight cases of infective endocarditis (IE) were observed between 1976 and 1989 (1.3% of all cardiac disease). Thirty two cases were retained for study based on Von Reyn's criteria: 28 native valve endocarditis (27 left and 1 right heart valves) of which 18 occurred on previously undiseased valves (56.3%); 4 cases of left heart prosthetic valve endocarditis. The average age of the patients was 27.5 +/- 14 years and the group comprised 24 women and 8 men (p less than 0.001). Blood cultures were negative in 13 cases, revealed a Gram negative pathogen in 8 cases, a streptoccocus in 3 cases. Blood cultures were not performed in 2 cases. The IE was acute in 18 cases (56.7%) and subacute in 14 cases (43.7%). The dominant clinical signs were of massive and sometimes acute valvular regurgitation (mitral: 21 cases; aortic: 10 cases; mitral and aortic: 3 cases; tricuspid: 1 case). Twenty-six patients had cardiac failure (81.2%): LVF: 15 cases, congestive cardiac failure: 10 cases, RVF: 1 case. The other complications were embolic: cerebral (3 cases), mesenteric (1 case), pulmonary (4 cases). Antibiotic therapy was prescribed in all patients; surgery was required in 9 cases. There were 12 fatalities (37.5%), 10 in the medically treated group and 2 in the surgical group (p less than 0.05). The results show that the prognosis of IE in underdeveloped regions remains poor. Effective strategies of early diagnosis and treatment are urgently required to reduce the high mortality. Prophylaxis of IE should commence with measures to counter the portals of entry of the pathogens and the valvular sequellae of acute rhumatic fever.     

Cost effectiveness of prophylaxis in dental practice to prevent infective endocarditis.

BACKGROUND--Although antimicrobial prophylaxis for infective endocarditis (IE) is common practice for many dental procedures, there is little information on whether it represents value for money. A study was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of prophylaxis for all at risk patients in routine dental practice with published data from the United Kingdom. METHODS--The risk of contracting infective endocarditis was calculated from published data to find (for high risk patients) both the annual number of deaths attributable to infective endocarditis and the number of high risk dental procedures performed without prophylaxis. Costs are estimated by examining the notes of 63 patients with proved IE during the decade 1980-90. RESULTS--Such prophylaxis is highly cost effective before dental extractions, but its value for other invasive dental procedures is unproved. It was calculated that, for every 10,000 extractions in at risk patients, appropriate prophylaxis will prevent 5.7 deaths and a further 22.85 cases of non-fatal IE. This represents a saving in the costs of hospital care of 289,600 pounds for 10,000 extractions. CONCLUSION--Prophylaxis to prevent IE in at risk patients undergoing dental extraction is highly cost effective. Net savings each year throughout the United Kingdom, that might be achieved by improving the existing proportion of such patients given antibiotics from its present level of about 50% would amount to 2.5 million pounds and would prevent over 50 deaths.     

Infective endocarditis in patients with kidney failure: Chronic dialysis and kidney transplant

Physicians who treat patients with infective endocarditis (IE) are encountering a growing number of dialysis and kidney transplant patients. Both groups have 30 to 100 times higher risk of IE, with 1-year mortalities of 40% to 60%. The predominant organisms causing IE are gram positive, with 60% to 80% of cases due to Staphylococcus aureus, and another 10% to 20% of cases due to coagulase-negative staphylococci. Renal transplant patients may develop fungal IE, but this risk is primarily in the first 3 months after transplant. In addition to blood cultures, transesophageal echocardiogram is the most useful diagnostic examination for IE in these patients. Initial antibiotic therapy, pending final culture and antibiotic susceptibility results, should provide coverage against the most common organisms and allow for the potential of either methicillin or vancomycinresistant species. Removal of infected hemodialysis access devices and at least 4 to 6 weeks of intravenous antibiotics are recommended. Antibiotic prophylaxis against IE has been recommended for all dialysis and renal transplant patients, but this strategy is controversial and unproven.     

感染性心内膜炎70例临床分析

目的 探讨感染性心内膜炎(IE)的临床特点、治疗方法及转归。方法 回顾分析北京协和医院自1988年1月～2000年5月间确诊的70例IE临床特点。结果 (1)8例(11．4％)为人工瓣膜心内膜炎(PVE),62例(88．6％)为自然瓣膜心内膜炎(NVE);57例(91．9％)NVE病人存在各种基础心脏病,其中先天性心血管畸形(22例,38．6％)最常见,其次为特发性二尖瓣脱垂(18例,31．6％)和风湿性心脏病(12例,21．1％)。(2)临床主要表现为发热(100％)、贫血(40例,57．1％)和栓塞(33例,47．1％)。(3)60％(42例)病例细菌培养阳性,23例致病菌为链球菌。(4)39／51例IE经过单纯抗感染治疗痊愈,17／19例经过抗感染治疗联合外科手术治愈。死亡14例,其中包括5例PVE和2例起搏器植入术后IE;顽固性充血性心力衰竭是最常见的死亡原因(9／14)。结论 IE最常见的基础心脏病前3位是先天性心血管畸形、二尖瓣脱垂和风湿性心脏病。不明原因长期发热患者应想到心内膜炎的可能,血培养和超声心动图检查有助于IE的诊断。PVE、起搏器植入术后合并IE以及并发顽固性充血性心力衰竭则预后不良。     

Infective Endocarditis in Patients with Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection

OBJECTIVES: To determine the clinical features, sites of involvement, bacteriological findings, and outcome of infective endocarditis (IE) in patients with HIV infection. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All patients with diagnosis of IE admitted to 54 infectious disease centres in Italy over a 15-year period (1984-1999) were reviewed, and 895 cases fulfilled the Duke criteria for definite diagnosis of IE. Data were collected with regard to the clinical, laboratory, and demographic characteristics of patients, as well as results of blood cultures and data on clinical outcome. RESULTS: There were 108 episodes of IE in 105 HIV-infected patients. The mean age of patients was 30.1 years, and the commonest predisposing condition was intravenous drug use (94.3%). Staphylococci were the predominant organisms (60.2%), and the tricuspid valve was the most frequently involved site of infection (51.9%). Left-sided heart involvement (45.4%) and multivalvular involvement (17.6%) were also frequently observed. The greater frequency of S. aureus affecting the tricuspid valve vs. other valves was statistically significant (P<0.001). Six patients (5.9%) underwent surgery, and one (16.7%) of them died. Ninety-five (94.1%) patients were treated medically, and 17 (17.9%) of them died. Overall mortality rate was 17.8%. Any left-sided heart involvement was predictive of an increased risk of death if compared with any right-sided heart involvement (P< 0.004). The mortality rate among HIV-infected patients was higher in those with CD4 cell counts below 200/mm(3). CONCLUSIONS: IE in HIV-infected patients, for the most part intravenous drug users, is more commonly localized to the right side of the heart; however, mixed or left-side valvular infections are frequent. Severe immunosuppression and left-side valvular involvement are associated with a greater risk for mortality.     

Prevalence and characteristics of tricuspid valve endocarditis among patients presented to Ain Shams Hospital echocardiography lab; one year study

Background

Isolated Tricuspid valve infective endocarditis is an infrequent diagnosis, the incidence of Tricuspid valve infective endocarditis accounts for 5% and up to 15% of IE cases.

Increase of Fungal Endocarditis in Children

AbstractBackground: Infective endocarditis (IE) is a rare and feared infection that mainly occurs in patients with underlying cardiac disease or altered function of the immune system. Recent epidemiological data on both sepsis and nosocomial infections indicate a rise in gram–negative bacterial and fungal infection, particularly in patients requiring critical care support. This study sought to characterize the change in the spectrum of IE encountered in a single pediatric tertiary care center during the last 18 years, to evaluate emergence of fungal IE and to identify contributing factors.Patients and Methods: Review of all cases of IE diagnosed between January 1986 and August 2003 at a single university children’s hospital. Patients were distributed between two equal time periods and compared according to the era of IE diagnosis.Results: In 43 patients, 44 episodes of IE were identified with most cases occurring in children with congenital or acquired heart disease. The annual number of diagnosed cases fluctuated during the study (mean 2.4 cases/year). Blood or specimen cultures were positive in 34 cases (77%) with gram–positive organisms most frequently observed (n = 20, 44.4%). Fungal IE cases (n = 9, 20%) occurred preferentially during the second period (p < 0.03), and were more common in children with noncardiac diseases (p = 0.023). Factors associated with fungal IE were the use of broad–spectrum antibiotics (p < 0.001) and the presence of an infected central venous catheter (p = 0.01). Overall mortality did not differ between the two eras.Conclusion: The incidence of fungal IE seems to have significantly increased in more recent years. Use of broadspectrum antibiotics for prolonged time or/and central venous catheters were identified as predisposing factors to fungal infective endocarditis.     

Changing spectrum of infective endocarditis: review of 194 episodes over 20 years.

A review of admission records identified 194 episodes of infective endocarditis (IE) from January 1980 to December 1999 at a community hospital in Tokyo. The cases were divided into decades, and the clinical picture and short-term outcomes were compared and analyzed. The mean age of patients in the 1990s was older (45.5 +/-13.2 vs 55.1+/-12.6 years, p<0.001), and prosthetic valve endocarditis was significantly more frequently seen (14.4% vs 31.8%, p=0.004). None had a history of intravenous drug abuse (IVDA). Patients on chronic hemodialysis comprised 5.8% of IE cases in the 90s. Overall, dental procedure or caries still remained the main presumed source of infection. Staphylococcal IE showed a tendency to increase, and methicillin-resistant staphylococcal IE was significantly prominent in the 90s (0% vs 10.4%, p=0.0006). The overall in-hospital mortality was similar between the 2 groups (13.6% vs 18.8%, NS). Multivariate analysis found neurological abnormality, renal insufficiency and staphylococcal IE as predictors of in-hospital mortality. The characteristics of IE in Japan have changed, even among non-IVDA patients, and it appears to occur in a more high-risk patient population, which may warrant a more aggressive therapeutic approach to its management and treatment.