Mitral Annular Calcification Related Infective Endocarditis: A Contemporary Systematic Review

Mitral annular calcification (MAC) is a chronic degenerative process often found incidentally on imaging. MAC is associated with elevated risk of atherosclerosis and stroke. The association between MAC and the risk of infective endocarditis (IE) is less well known. Therefore, we conducted this systematic review in order to understand the diagnosis, clinical outcomes, and management of IE associated with MAC. We conducted a systematic review of published data regarding MAC related IE in various databases until November 20, 2019. Case series and cohort studies were included. A total of 8 studies with a cohort of 113 patients were included. Mean age was 69 years with equal gender distribution (50% female). Hypertension (55.8%) was the most common comorbidity seen in this patient population. IE was diagnosed by either antemortem trans esophageal echocardiographic examination (76%) or post-mortem autopsy (24%). Staphylococcus aureus (47%) was the most common pathogen identified. MAC was adjudicated to be moderate-to-severe in 100% of identified cases, with 77.9% of cases presenting with distinct vegetation's. Twenty-six percent of patients (n = 29) underwent surgery. MAC may be associated with development of IE. Echocardiography is the most common non-invasive technique for diagnosis. Due to the difficulties associated with antemortem diagnosis, diagnosis is occasionally made on post-mortem examination. Neurologic complications are frequently encountered, and reported mortality is high in MAC associated IE.     

Mycotic Aneurysms of the Ascending Aorta in the Absence of Endocarditis

Mycotic aneurysm formation is a rare and potentially fatal sequela of bacteremia. We present the cases of 2 octogenarians who had surgically confirmed mycotic aneurysms that involved the ascending aorta, with contained rupture (pseudoaneurysm). Neither patient had evidence of valvular endocarditis. Patient 1, an 82-year-old man, had streptococcal bacteremia. Imaging confirmed a mycotic aneurysm of the ascending aorta, and resection was successful. Patient 2, an 83-year-old woman, had recurrent staphylococcal bacteremia and progressive widening of the mediastinum, and imaging revealed a mycotic pseudoaneurysm. She underwent surgical repair with use of a bovine pericardial patch, but she died 2 weeks later because of patch dehiscence.We did not initially suspect mycotic aneurysm in either patient. Despite the availability of accurate, noninvasive imaging techniques, strong clinical suspicion is required for the early diagnosis of mycotic aneurysm.Key words: Aneurysm, infected/diagnosis/etiology/pathology/surgery/ultrasonography; anti-bacterial agents/therapeutic use; aorta/pathology/surgery; aortic aneurysm/diagnosis/surgery; staphylococcus infections/complications/pathologyInfection of the aortic wall that results in mycotic aneurysm formation, a potentially fatal sequela of bacteremia, is very rare. In a series of 2,585 patients who were treated for aortic aneurysm, only 22 aneurysms (0.9%) were designated as mycotic.¹ The condition is chiefly seen in elderly patients. It also occurs in people who are undergoing hemodialysis, those who are immunosuppressed, and drug addicts, all of whom are susceptible to vascular bacteremic insult.² Hematogenous bacterial seeding of the intima or septic embolization to the vasa vasorum from a distant focus often occurs insidiously.² The weakening or destruction of one or more layers of the vessel wall by the infectious process and exposure to intra-arterial pressure causes localized, irreversible arterial dilation (aneurysm formation), which can lead to bleeding and a contained rupture (pseudoaneurysm formation). We present the cases of 2 patients who had mycotic aneurysms without endocarditis, and we review the relevant medical literature.     

Infective Endocarditis: A Lethal Disease

Abstract: One-hundred-and-eighty-nine episodes of Infective Endocarditis were seen in 177 patients in the Green Lane Cardiology Unit over an 18-year period. Hospital survival was 79% and 13-year actuarial survival was 47%. A number of factors including the underlying cardiac lesion, infecting organism, clinical features and surgical intervention were related to outcome .
No patient with extreme heart failure survived without operation. Hospital survival in patients with severe heart failure was 69% (9/13 patients) where surgery was carried out before completion of antibiotic treatment, and 40% (6/15 patients) where the antibiotic course was completed. Survival was 53% in patients who still had a fever after one week of antibiotic treatment and 96% if the temperature was normal. In 61% of patients with a fever at one week, extended infected pannus was present compared with 6–10% where the temperature was normal. In patients undergoing operation before completion of antibiotics, the surgical mortality was higher but neither the incidence of recurrence of endocarditis nor the need for re-operation was increased .
We believe that better results will be achieved with a policy of surgical intervention when signs of infection and heart failure have not settled within one week of treatment .     

Contemporary Approaches to the Management of Neurosurgical Complications of Infective Endocarditis

Infective endocarditis can often involve the nervous system, resulting in stroke, intracerebral hemorrhage, infectious aneurysm formation, cerebral abscess, and spinal epidural infection. Many of these problems require neurosurgical attention. Modern advances in neurosurgical critical care, computerization, instrumentation, and radiologic imaging have affected the treatments available to patients with neurosurgical manifestations of infective endocarditis. This paper is a brief overview of the contemporary management of neurosurgical complications of infective endocarditis.     

Infective Endocarditis Due to Treponema pallidum: A Case Diagnosed Using Polymerase Chain Reaction Analysis of Aortic Valve

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease caused by Treponema pallidum. Syphilitic aortitis might coexist in a dysfunctional aortic valve, but the etiology remains unclear, because microbiological diagnosis is difficult. A 62-year-old man with low-grade fever was diagnosed with aortitis and infective endocarditis, due to Treponema pallidum infection, using polymerase chain reaction analysis. This case suggests that syphilis might cause infective endocarditis.     

Ten Years of Infective Endocarditis: A Clinicopathologic Study

ABSTRACT The records of 46 patients with infective endocarditis diagnosed either clinically or postmortem were analyzed. Twenty-six patients were over 60 years of age. S. aureus was the predominant organism, almost exclusively found in patients with acute endocarditis. Thirty-six patients had pre-existing heart disease, the most common being non-rheumatic valvular calcification and congenital defects. Two thirds of the patients, especially those with aortic valve regurgitation, developed new or progressive heart failure. A correct clinical diagnosis was established in only 30 patients. Twenty-three patients died, the mortality being 71% in acute and 32% in subacute disease. Only one of eight patients with prosthetic valve infection died. Four patients required urgent valve replacement. Early surgical intervention should be considered in patients with uncontrolled heart failure.     

Isolated Pulmonic Valve Infective Endocarditis: A Persistent Challenge

Abstract. Isolated pulmonic valve infective endocarditis is an uncommon clinical entity. We report our experience with three patients diagnosed with pulmonic valve endocarditis from our institution. Two cases were caused by Enterococcus faecalis (one was resistant to vancomycin) and one by coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS). One of the cases of isolated pulmonic valve endocarditis due to the E. faecalis was nosocomially acquired; the case of CNS pulmonic valve endocarditis was dialysis catheter related. Each patient with isolated pulmonic valve endocarditis presented with hypotension and interstitial pulmonary infiltrates. Two patients were treated with linezolid. Both vancomycinresistant enterococci (VRE) and CNS were eliminated from blood cultures on linezolid therapy. The challenges inherent in the management of pulmonic valve endocarditis mandate the development of individual patient-specific guidelines.     

Acquired AortoVentricular Tunnel: A Rare Complication of Infective Endocarditis

A 26-year-old man presented to emergency department with fever associated with night sweating and weight loss since 2 months prior to admission. He was an intravenous heroin user admitted for infective endocarditis of aortic valve 1 year ago. Transthoracic echocardiography followed by the transesophageal study showed bileaflet aortic prosthesis with normal transvalvular gradient and severe paravalvular aortic insufficiency. A pseudoaneurysm of intervalvular fibrosa connecting left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) to noncoronary sinus of valsalva was detected.     

Polymicrobial Infective Endocarditis: Clinical Features and Prognosis

To describe the profile of left-sided polymicrobial endocarditis (PE) and to compare it with monomicrobial endocarditis (ME).Among 1011 episodes of left-sided endocarditis consecutively diagnosed in 3 tertiary centers, between January 1, 1996 and December 31, 2014, 60 were polymicrobial (5.9%), 821 monomicrobial (81.7%), and in 123 no microorganism was detected (12.2%). Seven patients (0.7%) were excluded from the analysis because contamination of biologic tissue could not be discarded. The authors described the clinical, microbiologic, echocardiographic, and outcome of patients with PE and compared it with ME.Mean age was 64 years SD 16 years, 67% were men and 30% nosocomial. Diabetes mellitus (35%) were the most frequent comorbidities, fever (67%) and heart failure (43%) the most common symptoms at admission. Prosthetic valves (50%) were the most frequent infection location and coagulase-negative Staphylococci (48%) and enterococci (37%) the leading etiologies. The most repeated combination was coagulase-negative Staphylococci with enterococci (n = 9). Polymicrobial endocarditis appeared more frequently in patients with underlying disease (70% versus 56%, P = 0.036), mostly diabetics (35% versus 24%, P = 0.044) with previous cardiac surgery (15% versus 8% P = 0.049) and prosthetic valves (50% versus 37%, P = 0.038). Coagulase-negative Staphylococci, enterococci, Gram-negative bacilli, anaerobes, and fungi were more frequent in PE. No differences on age, sex, symptoms, need of surgery, and in-hospital mortality were detected.Polymicrobial endocarditis represents 5.9% of episodes of left-sided endocarditis in our series. Despite relevant demographic and microbiologic differences between PE and ME, short-term outcome is similar.     

起搏器心内膜炎的外科治疗

目的　介绍 15例起搏器心内膜炎外科治疗的临床经验 ,讨论手术指征和时机。方法　1993年至 2 0 0 1年间 ,我们为 15例起搏器心内膜炎患者 ,施行了体外循环直视下心内起搏电极撤除术。本文对这些病人的临床资料进行回顾性研究。结果　本组病例中 ,有 2例院内死亡 ,术后随访期内 (中间值 =31 3个月 ;区间 ,1 8～ 5 8 7个月 )无远期死亡 ,总死亡率为 13 3%。所有出院病人均无感染复发。大部分病人心功能明显改善 (P <0 0 1)。只有 6例患者术后因持续存在的心律失常需要重新安装起搏器。本组病例中常见的外科手术指征为 :1)附着于起搏电极的大型赘生物 ,2 )顽固感染 ,3)三尖瓣架构损坏 ,4)肺栓塞 ,5 )存在需要外科处理的基础的或并存的心脏病变。结论　根据我们的结果及相关文献报道 ,我们认为对患起搏器心内膜炎的病人 ,应尽早采用外科手术撤除植入的心内起搏器硬件。手术治疗的远期效果是值得信赖的。     

A Ruptured Cerebral Mycotic Aneurysm Caused By Abiotrophia defectiva Endocarditis

We describe a case of ruptured cerebral mycotic aneurysm caused by Abiotrophia defectiva endocarditis in a previously healthy man. The patient underwent craniotomy with clipping of aneurysm and received antibiotic treatment for 6 weeks and survived.     

Changing Profile of Infective Endocarditis: A Clinicopathologic Study of 220 Patients in a Single Medical Center from 1998 through 2009

The epidemiologic profile of infective endocarditis has changed substantially over the past few years, especially in industrialized countries. Our study evaluates the clinical and pathologic characteristics of infective endocarditis patients treated by cardiac surgery in China during a 12-year period.We retrospectively evaluated 220 surgically treated infective endocarditis patients and analyzed their changes from the beginning of 1998 through 2009. The mean age of the patients increased from 36.9 to 42.7 years during those 12 years (P=0.036). The chief predisposing disease was congenital heart disease (32.8%), rather than rheumatic heart disease (13.2%); this rate did not change significantly during the 12 years. The prevalent congenital lesion was bicuspid aortic valve, the rate of which (55.6%) increased significantly over the 3 time intervals studied (P=0.016). The frequency of infective endocarditis after non-dental surgical and nonsurgical intervention was significantly greater (23.3%) during 1998 through 2001, compared with the 2 intervals that followed (9%; P=0.019). Streptococcus viridans was the most frequent causative agent overall (25.6%). Forty-seven of the 220 patients (21.4%) carried the clinical diagnosis of some other form of heart disease before surgery, but at surgery they were found to have infective endocarditis as the fundamental disease process. Of 47 patients, 33 (70.2%) had either very small or no vegetations but had focal necrosis and inflammation of valve tissue that supported the diagnosis of infective endocarditis.     

Infective Endocarditis Complicated with Anterior Mitral Leaflet Abscess: A Case Report

Infective endocarditis (IE) is defined as infection of endocardial surface of the heart. It may include one or more heart valves, the mural endocardium or a septal defect. Its intracardiac effect includes severe valvular insufficiency which may lead to intractable congestive heart failure and myocardial abscess. Infective endocarditis especially complicated by an abscess is associated with high mortality, despite the medical and surgical therapeutic options available. Surgical intervention is indicated in cases of heart failure or uncontrolled infection and sometimes for the prevention of embolic phenomena. We report a case of 42 yrs/M with RVHD admitted in Dr D.Y.Patil hospital, Kolhapur. He had high grade, continuous fever, vomiting, cough with expectoration since 15 days prior to admission. He had prior embolic stroke 2 months back from which he recovered completely. The diagnosis of Infective endocarditis was confirmed clinically & echocardiographically by Duke''s criteria. His ECHO showed severe MR, Moderate MS and large vegetations on AML oscillating through mitral orifice along with subvalval (mitral) abscess. Due to severe haematemesis following Mallory weiss tear surgical intervention was not possible. Patient succumbed as a result of refractory pulmonary oedema.     

A Contemporary Picture of Enterococcal Endocarditis

BackgroundEnterococcal endocarditis (EE) is a growing entity in Western countries. However, quality data from large studies is lacking.ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to describe the characteristics and analyze the prognostic factors of EE in the GAMES cohort.MethodsThis was a post hoc analysis of a prospectively collected cohort of patients from 35 Spanish centers from 2008 to 2016. Characteristics and outcomes of 516 cases of EE were compared with those of 3,308 cases of nonenterococcal endocarditis (NEE). Logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards regression analysis were performed to investigate risk factors for in-hospital and 1-year mortality, as well as relapses.ResultsPatients with EE were significantly older; more frequently presented chronic lung disease, chronic heart failure, prior endocarditis, and degenerative valve disease; and had higher median age-adjusted Charlson score. EE more frequently involved the aortic valve and prosthesis (64.3% vs. 46.7%; p < 0.001; and 35.9% vs. 28.9%; p = 0.002, respectively) but less frequently pacemakers/defibrillators (1.5% vs. 10.5%; p < 0.001), and showed higher rates of acute heart failure (45% vs. 38.3%; p = 0.005). Cardiac surgery was less frequently performed in EE (40.7% vs. 45.9%; p = 0.024). No differences in in-hospital and 1-year mortality were found, whereas relapses were significantly higher in EE (3.5% vs. 1.7%; p = 0.035). Increasing Charlson score, LogEuroSCORE, acute heart failure, septic shock, and paravalvular complications were risk factors for mortality, whereas prior endocarditis was protective and persistent bacteremia constituted the sole risk factor for relapse.ConclusionsBesides other baseline and clinical differences, EE more frequently affects prosthetic valves and less frequently pacemakers/defibrillators. EE presents higher rates of relapse than NEE.