Native-valve endocarditis caused by Staphylococcus lugdunensis

Coagulase-negative staphylococci cause about 5% of native-valveendocarditis. Staphylococcus lugdunensis, a recently-described species ofcoagulase-negative staphylococci, has been reported to cause destructivenative-valve endocarditis with a high mortality. We report four consecutivecases of definite Staphylococcus lugdunensis native- valve endocarditis bythe Duke criteria over a 4-year period. All patients required urgent aorticvalve replacement 1-5 days after admission, and recovered. An intriguing,aspect in the presentation of these patients was a history of vasectomy andinguinal skin breaks in the immediate period preceding the occurrence ofendocarditis.