249例感染性心内膜炎的外科治疗

目的 总结感染性心内膜炎249例的诊断、手术时机和疗效.方法 回顾分析1988年1月～2006年6月接受手术治疗的感染性心内膜炎249例,先天性心脏病89例（35.7%）,风湿性心脏病134例（53.8%）,无基础病变者26例（10.4%）,所有病人经外科手术清除感染病灶,纠治瓣膜病变及心脏畸形,术前进行血培养和彩色超声心动图检查.结果 外科手术治疗前,超声心动图发现心脏及大血管赘生物219例（87.9%）,血培养阳性103例（41.4%）.手术后死亡9例（3.6%）.结论 感染性心内膜炎早期诊断,适时手术和内、外科联合治疗是治疗成功的关键.     

41例感染性心内膜炎个案化处理

目的:报告41例感染性心内膜炎(infective endocarditis,IE)个案化处理的经验。方法:本组病例共41例,占同期住院患者(1682例)2.38%。其中男性33例、女性8例,病种分布为主动脉瓣病变7例(穿孔3例),二尖瓣病变6例,肺动脉病变2例,主动脉窦瘤2例,主动脉根部脓肿1例,先心病合并心内膜表面炎性病变者17例。心脏手术后8例。在所有针对IE手术治疗患者中,急性IE3例,亚急性IE5例,IE稳定期后遗症处理25例(术中发现IE病变7例)。血培养阳性9例,赘生物15例,脓肿2例,赘生物与脓肿培养阳性10例,菌种分布为金黄色葡萄球菌、真菌、草绿色链球菌及阴沟肠杆菌。继发IE病例中心脏手术后IE6例,原发IE32例术前均应用抗生素、改善心功能等处理,其中感染被控制或炎症静止期手术27例;急诊手术4例。结果:本组围术期死亡2例,均因严重心力衰竭难以纠治。远期再发急性IE瓣周漏自动出院1例。门诊检查及随访资料显示轻度主动脉瓣周漏和瓣膜反流各1例,无临床症状与血流动力学影响。随访患者中除1例心功能Ⅳ级外,心功能均恢复至I级。结论:抗生素应用和手术治疗的个案化处理,二者紧密结合是提高IE疗效的关键。     

Swedish guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of infective endocarditis

Swedish guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of infective endocarditis (IE) by consensus of experts are based on clinical experience and reports from the literature. Recommendations are evidence based. For diagnosis 3 blood cultures should be drawn; chest X-ray, electrocardiogram, and echocardiography preferably transoesophageal should be carried out. Blood cultures should be kept for 5 d and precede intravenous antibiotic therapy. In patients with native valves and suspicion of staphylococcal aetiology, cloxacillin and gentamicin should be given as empirical treatment. If non-staphylococcal etiology is most probable, penicillin G and gentamicin treatment should be started. In patients with prosthetic valves treatment with vancomycin, gentamicin and rifampicin is recommended. Patients with blood culture negative IE are recommended penicillin G (changed to cefuroxime in treatment failure) and gentamicin for native valve IE and vancomycin, gentamicin and rifampicin for prosthetic valve IE, respectively. Isolates of viridans group streptococci and enterococci should be subtyped and MIC should be determined for penicillin G and aminoglycosides. Antibiotic treatment should be chosen according to sensitivity pattern given 2-6 weeks intravenously. Cardiac valve surgery should be considered early, especially in patients with left-sided IE and/or prosthetic heart valves. Absolute indications for surgery are severe heart failure, paravalvular abscess, lack of response to antibiotic therapy, unstable prosthesis and multiple embolies. Follow-up echocardiography should be performed on clinical indications.     

15例感染性心内膜炎的外科治疗

目的 探讨感染性心内膜炎外科手术治疗时机。方法 对中山大学附属第二医院1999年1月～2003年12月15例外科治疗的感染性心内膜炎病人进行回顾性对照分析。结果　二尖瓣置换3例,二尖瓣成形1例,主动脉瓣置换6例,三尖瓣置换4例,三尖瓣成形1例。治愈14例,1例术后因多器官功能衰竭死亡。结论　治疗感染性心内膜炎在抗感染同时,应积极采取手术,适时手术是治疗成功的关键。     

Use of corticosteroids in glomerulonephritis related to infective endocarditis: three cases and review.

We report the cases of three patients treated for infective endocarditis (IE) for whom corticosteroids were added to the antibiotic treatment. They all had clinical and biological evidence of immune-mediated glomerulonephritis. The microorganisms responsible for IE were Coxiella burnetii, Streptococcus bovis, and Cardiobacterium hominis. Median duration of IE before antimicrobial therapy was 7 months. In all patients, renal function deteriorated despite appropriate antimicrobial treatment for a mean duration of 16 days, but it improved after addition of corticosteroid therapy. All patients were cured of IE. A literature review revealed four additional cases of IE-related glomerulonephritis in which adjunctive immunosuppressive therapy was considered to be effective. Although corticosteroid therapy is generally not recommended for IE, it should be considered for patients whose renal dysfunction secondary to glomerulonephritis does not improve with appropriate antimicrobial treatment, especially if the duration of the illness is long.     

New approach to managing infective endocarditis

Despite significant diagnostic and therapeutic improvements, infective endocarditis (IE) still carries high morbidity and mortality. In the last three decades, significant variations in epidemiological and clinical profile of IE have been observed. The diagnosis of IE requires an adequate clinical suspicion, given its pleomorphic presentation. Microbiological and imaging techniques, which are pivotal in confirming the diagnosis, need constant refinement because of suboptimal accuracy. A clinically integrated multidisciplinary approach is recommended. Guidelines provide useful support despite being based mainly on the opinion of experts rather than on randomized trials, with some inconsistencies among different recommendations. This review encounters the current state of knowledge, gaps in evidence, and future research direction in the field of IE.     

Embolic events in infective endocarditis: a review and report of 4 cases

Infective endocarditis (IE) remains a dangerous disease in terms of morbidity and mortality. Valve damage with or without congestive heart failure, paravalvular extension, embolization of vegetation, damage due to immunological involvement and septic shock are the main complications of IE. Embolic events are frequent and life-threatening complications of IE. In previous series, the reported figures of embolic complication vary from 10 to 50%. We describe four cases of patients with IE and peripheral embolization. In this paper, we will briefly discuss the role of echocardiography, infective microorganisms and clinical aspects in the prediction of an embolic event. Therapeutic strategies are discussed.     

Current diagnosis of infective endocarditis

An analysis was made of 91 cases of infective endocarditis (IE) with regard to causative organisms and their sensitivities to various antibiotics, the clinical features of the disease, the laboratory test results and other items were important in establishing a diagnosis of IE. The number of cases of IE has shown a tendency to increase in recent years, particularly in the number of elderly patients, and the ratio of total cases consisting of prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE) has shown a sharp increase. The most common causative organism is still Streptococcus viridans, but there has been an increase in the incidence of IE due to benzyl-penicillin-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus faecalis and other fastidious organisms. The percentage of underlying diseases represented by combined valvular diseases has been increasing, while the primary known cause of the infection of IE was dental treatments. A positive value for CRP, an accelerated value for ESR, leukocytosis, anemia, a decrease in serum Fe, a positive value for RA-T, were all parameters which showed a high correlation with IE, and these should be useful in establishing the diagnosis of IE. The use of cardioechography to detect cardiac vegetation is important in relation to establishing the diagnosis and prognosis of IE, and the evaluation of the therapeutic results.     

The microbial diagnosis of infective endocarditis

This review suggests an evidence-based algorithm for sequential testing in infective endocarditis. It discusses blood culture and the merits and drawbacks of serology in making the diagnosis. Newer techniques are briefly reviewed. The proposed algorithm will complement the Duke criteria in clinical practice.     

Native-valve infective endocarditis caused by Enterobacteriaceae: report on 9 cases and literature review

Although the demographic characteristics of patients who develop infective endocarditis (IE) have changed over the last few decades, Enterobacteriaceae remain rarely responsible. We report the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of 9 patients with native-valve Enterobacteriaceae IE from 6 French medical intensive care units over a 10-y period and have identified 29 additional cases in the literature. Nearly a third of the 38 patients were immunocompromised and/or had previously known valvular heart disease. Salmonella spp. and Yersinia spp. were the most frequently isolated microorganisms reported in the literature. The overall mortality rate was 24% (9/38) and was lower for operated patients (10% (1/10)) compared to those who did not undergo valve surgery (31% (8/26)). Our results confirmed the rarity of native-valve endocarditis caused by Enterobacteriaceae, pathogens frequently responsible for nosocomial and community-acquired bacteraemias. This paradox may be explained by susceptibility to the bactericidal action of serum and the inability of these bacteria to colonize the endocardium.     

感染性心内膜炎的外科治疗

目的:总结53例感染性心内膜炎的诊断、手术时机和治疗方法以及效果。方法:回顾性分析2003年1月～2007年5月接受感染性心内膜炎手术治疗患者53例的临床资料。以发热为主就诊者19例;术前心功能不全(NYHAⅢ级或Ⅳ级)22例;脑栓塞3例;肺栓塞并肺炎2例;血培养阳性者8例(15.1%),多为革蓝氏阳性菌;超声证实心内赘生物形成者51例。所有患者均在体外循环下,进行赘生物清除及原发心脏病矫正手术。术后继续使用抗生素治疗2～6周。结果:52例患者均痊愈出院。1例患者术后1个月复发,再手术后痊愈。所有病例随访3个月恢复良好。结论:感染性心内膜炎应做到早诊断、早治疗,对于无法控制的感染和难以纠正的心力衰竭以及反复发生体动脉栓塞患者要及时采用手术治疗,同时加强围手术期处理,可明显提高感染性心内膜炎的治愈率,降低死亡率。     

New aspects of infective endocarditis

The current incidence of infective endocarditis (IE) is estimated as 7 cases per 100,000 population per year and continues to increase. The prognosis is significantly influenced by proper diagnosis and adequate therapy. In cases with unconfirmed IE, transesophageal echocardiography is the imaging technique of choice. Culture-negative endocarditis requires either termination of antimicrobial treatment initiated without mircobiological test results and reevaluation of blood samples or serological/molecular biological techniques to identify the causative organism. Antimicrobial therapy should be established only after quantitative sensitivity tests of antibiotics (minimal inhibitory concentrations, MIC) and guided by drug monitoring. In the first 3 weeks after primary manifestation, an index embolism is frequently followed by recurrencies. If vegetations can still be demonstrated by echocardiography after an embolic event, a surgical intervention should seriously be considered. Cerebral embolic events are no contraindication for cardiac surgery, as long as a cerebral bleeding has been excluded by cranial computed tomography immediately preoperatively and the operation is performed before a significant disturbance of the blood-brain barrier (<72 hours) has manifested. A significant prognostic improvement has also been demonstrated for patients with early surgical intervention suffering from myocardial failure due to acute valve incompetence, acute renal failure, mitral kissing vegetations in primary aortic valve IE, and in patients with sepsis persisting for more than 48 hours despite adequate antimicrobial therapy.     

Surgical treatment of infective endocarditis

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to determine the surgical indication in the treatment of infective endocarditis. SETTING: Retrospective study in a tertiary care--Wessex Cardiothoracic--Centre. SUBJECTS AND DESIGN: Case records of patients admitted with infective endocarditis for surgical treatment between 1984 to 1994 at Wessex Cardiothoracic Centre were analysed. This analysis includes the age, sex, microbiology results, risk factors, surgical indication and early results. RESULTS: A total of 123 patients was admitted with bacterial endocarditis treated surgically since 1984. The mean age was 51.9 years with male:female ratio of 3:1. The most common causative organism was streptococcus (63%) and staphylococcus (30%). Native valve endocarditis occurred in 111 patients, affecting the aortic, mitral, combined aortic and mitral valve in 69%, 33%, and 8% of cases, respectively. Late prosthetic valve endocarditis occurred in 12 patients. The most common indication for surgery was heart failure (84%), uncontrolled sepsis (8%), and recurrent endocarditis (2.5%). Hospital mortality was 1.6%. Complete heart block and cerebrovascular accident developed in 4% and 2.4%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Heart failure is the main indication for surgery. Valve replacement with mechanical prosthesis is a safe procedure with a low rate of mortality and complication.     

Molecular technology in context: a current review of diagnosis and management of infective endocarditis

Infective endocarditis is an evolving disease that presents as a great a problem to physicians, cardiologists, microbiologists, and cardiac surgeons in both the developed and developing world now as at any time over the past 3 decades. This article provides the reader with an up-to-date review of epidemiology, etiology, pathogenesis, presentation, diagnosis, and treatment. A major area of ongoing work is an approach to the culture-negative patient resulting in expanding diagnostic techniques. Limitations of current diagnostic strategies are detailed with focus on the use of the polymerase chain reaction to aid diagnosis. The technique offers several advantages, including extreme sensitivity and the opportunity for early diagnosis. Three general circumstances exist in which molecular approaches may be used: (1) identification of agents in cases of culture-negative infective endocarditis; (2) characterization of cultured agent(s) to determine clinical significance; (3) determination of antibiotic resistance. It should be recognized that there are limitations and certain quality assurance measures that should be implemented for optimal use of such methods. However, when executed properly and interpreted in the correct clinical and laboratory context, the incorporation of molecular diagnostics as a major Duke diagnostic criterion has been proposed with widespread support, although it is unlikely to supersede blood cultures as a primary diagnostic tool.     

Propionibacterium acnes infective endocarditis. Study of 11 cases and review of literature

BACKGROUND: Propionibacterium acnes, a gram positive, anaerobic, skin commensal bacillus, is too often considered a biologic fluid contaminant, of blood cultures in particular. Its implication has been shown in various infections, including brain abscess, ocular infections, osteitis, and acne. It is also the cause of infective endocarditis (IE). METHODS: Retrospective, observational study of 11 patients with P. acnes IE, hospitalised between 1993 and 2001 at the Louis Pradel Hospital, Lyon-Bron, and review of 20 published cases. RESULTS: P. acnes IE is rare, though its prevalence is probably underestimated. It is most likely to affect men (71%), and affects all ages (children 4/31 cases). An entry point, probably cutaneous, is rarely confirmed. P. acnes IE often develops on valve prosthesis (42%), and embolisms are common (61%). The infective site is usually aortic (55%). The often-subtle symptoms and slow growth of the organism in vitro complicate the diagnosis, which is often made at a late stage, when valvular and peri-valvular destruction has become major. Despite the high sensitivity of P. acnes to most antimicrobials, a surgical intervention is very often needed (81%). The mortality is relatively high (15% to 27%). Examination of pathologic specimens by polymerase chain reaction increases the sensitivity and speed of its detection. The identification of P. acnes in a biologic specimen, valvular tissue in particular, requires a thorough knowledge of the clinical context before concluding to contamination, and mandates close surveillance of the patient. P. acnes can be the cause of IE long before it has been detected.