Humans ; Endocarditis, Bacterial/surgery* ; Arthritis/etiology* ; Endocarditis/surgery*

Aneurysm, Infected/surgery* ; Endocarditis/surgery* ; Endocarditis, Bacterial/surgery* ; Humans ; Intracranial Aneurysm/surgery*

Infective endocarditis in pregnancy is extremely rare in clinical practice. Guidelines addressing prophylaxis and management of infective endocarditis do not extensively deal with concomitant pregnancy, and case reports on infective endocarditis are scarce. Due to increased blood volume and hemodynamic changes in late pregnancy, endocardial neoplasms are easy to fall off and cause systemic or pulmonary embolism, respiratory, cardiac arrest and sudden death may occur in pregnant women, the fetus can suffer from intrauterine distress and stillbirth at any time, leading to adverse outcomes for pregnant women and fetuses. The disease is dangerous and difficult to treat, which seriously threatens the lives of mothers and babies. Early diagnosis and reasonable treatment can effectively improve the prognosis of patients. The most important method for the treatment of infective endocarditis requires early, adequate, long-term and combined antibiotic therapy. Moreover, surgical controversies regarding indication and timing of treatment exist, especially in pregnancy. In terms of the timing of termination of pregnancy, the timing of cardiac surgery, and the method of surgery, individualized programs must be adopted. A pregnant woman with 30⁺⁵ weeks of gestation is reported. She was admitted to hospital due to intermittent chest tightness, suffocation and fever, with grade Ⅲ cardiac insufficiency. Imaging revealed large mitral valve vegetation, 22.0 mm×4.1 mm and 22.0 mm×5.1 mm, respectively, and severe valve regurgitation. Mitral valve perforation was more likely, blood culture suggested Staphylococcus epidermidis infection, after antibiotic conservative treatment, the effect was poor. After the joint consultation including cardiology, neonatology, interventional vascular surgery, anesthesiology, and obstetrics, the combined operation of obstetrics and cardiac surgery was performed in time. The heart was blocked for 60 minutes, the bleeding was 1 200 mL, the newborn was mildly asphyxiated after birth, and the birth weight was 1 890 g. Nine days after the operation, the patient was discharged from the hospital, and the newborn was discharged with the weight of 2 020 g. Critical cases like this require a thorough weighing of risks and benefits followed by swift action to protect the mother and her unborn child. An optimal outcome in a challenging case like this greatly depends on effective interdisciplinary communication, informed consent of the patient, and concerted action among the specialists involved.
Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use* ; Cardiac Surgical Procedures ; Endocarditis/drug therapy* ; Endocarditis, Bacterial/therapy* ; Female ; Heart Valve Diseases/drug therapy* ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Mitral Valve/surgery* ; Pregnancy ; Staphylococcal Infections

Adult ; Endocarditis/surgery* ; Endocarditis, Bacterial/surgery* ; Hospital Mortality ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Young Adult

Adult ; Aneurysm, False ; diagnostic imaging ; surgery ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; therapeutic use ; Echocardiography, Transesophageal ; Endocarditis, Bacterial ; diagnostic imaging ; drug therapy ; Female ; Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation ; Heart Ventricles ; pathology ; Humans ; Mitral Valve ; surgery ; Mitral Valve Insufficiency ; diagnostic imaging ; surgery

Prosthetic valve endocarditis with aortic root abscess is a serious condition requiring urgent surgical intervention. We present a case caused by an infected Bentall mechanical valve conduit after cardiac surgery in a patient who was referred for a suprasternal pulsatile mass. The patient also had 1 episode of sentinel haemorrhage.
Abscess ; Endocarditis ; Humans ; Thoracic Surgery

BACKGROUND: Cases of infective endocarditis (IE) require prompt etiological diagnosis for effective treatment. Molecular methods can aid in rapid and reliable diagnosis of culture-negative IE cases. We evaluated the utility of 16S rDNA PCR and sequencing in determining the causative agents of IE in valve tissues, especially when specimens were obtained after initiation of antimicrobial therapy. METHODS: We performed 16S rDNA PCR and sequencing in heart valve specimens and medical records review of 80 patients who underwent protocol-based cardiac surgery from 2013 to 2015. One patient did not meet the criteria for IE. Sixty-five (81.3%) and 14 pa-tients (17.5%) were diagnosed as having definite IE and possible IE, respectively. Blood and heart valve biopsy tissue were examined by using routine microbiological methods. RESULTS: Blood cultures in our hospital were IE-positive for 33 patients (41.8%), whereas 49 patients (62.0%) showed positive blood cultures when initial blood cultures performed at the referring hospital were included. Eighteen (22.8%) and 40 patients (50.6%) were IE-positive in valve tissue cultures and 16S rDNA PCR, respectively. Bacteria in the Streptococcus mitis group (n=26) were the most common etiological agents of IE. Eight (10.1%) culture-negative specimens tested positive by 16S rDNA PCR. In five of eight PCR-positive and culture-negative cases, fastidious or anaerobic organisms were the cause of IE. CONCLUSIONS: Direct 16S rDNA PCR and sequencing can be used as a supplementary method to conventional blood and biopsy culture testing, especially in culture-negative IE cases that are negative for IE by culture.
Bacteria ; Biopsy ; Diagnosis* ; DNA, Ribosomal* ; Endocarditis* ; Heart Valves ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Methods ; Polymerase Chain Reaction* ; Streptococcus mitis ; Thoracic Surgery

Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) is one of the most common forms of cyanotic congenital heart disease usually managed by serial surgical repairs. The repaired prosthetic valve or conduit is susceptible to life-threatening infection. FDG-PET is an effective alternative to evaluate the source of infection when other examinations are inconclusive. We report an unusual case of an infected pulmonary artery conduit after TOF repair although the echocardiogram was negative for vegetation, which was later confirmed by surgery and pathology. The case highlights the role of FDG-PETas a problem-solving tool for potential endocarditis and cardiac device infection cases after complex cardiac surgery.
Endocarditis ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; Pathology ; Pulmonary Artery ; Tetralogy of Fallot ; Thoracic Surgery

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Compared with conventional treatment, early surgery significantly reduced the composite end point of all-cause death and embolic events during hospitalization, but long-term data in this area are lacking. This study sought to compare long-term outcomes of early surgery with a conventional treatment strategy in patients with infective endocarditis (IE) and large vegetations. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The Early Surgery versus Conventional Treatment in Infective Endocarditis (EASE) trial randomly assigned patients with left-sided IE, severe valve disease and large vegetation to early surgery (37 patients) or conventional treatment groups (39 patients). The pre-specified end points were all-cause death, embolic events, recurrence of IE and repeat hospitalizations due to the development of congestive heart failure occurring during follow-up. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the early surgery and the conventional treatment group in all-cause mortality at 4 years (8.1% and 7.7%, respectively; hazard ratio [HR] 1.04; 95% CI, 0.21 to 5.15; p=0.96). The rate of the composite end point of death from any cause, embolic events or recurrence of IE at 4 years was 8.1% in the early surgery group and 30.8% in the conventional treatment group (HR, 0.22; 95% CI, 0.06-0.78; p=0.02). The estimated actuarial rate of end points at 7 years was significantly lower in the early surgery group than in the conventional treatment group (log-rank p=0.007). CONCLUSION: There was a substantial benefit in having early surgery for patients with IE and large vegetations whose health was sustained up to 7 years, and late clinical outcome after surgery was excellent in survivors of IE. (EASE clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT00750373)
Echocardiography ; Embolism ; Endocarditis* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Heart Failure ; Heart Valve Diseases ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Mortality ; Recurrence ; Survivors ; Thoracic Surgery

PURPOSE: This study aimed to evaluate and compare the characteristics of infective endocarditis (IE) between children and adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) at a single tertiary care center. METHODS: In this retrospective medical record review, we extracted the demographic characteristics, diagnostic variables, and outcomes of patients diagnosed with IE and CHD between 2000 and 2016. RESULTS: We identified a total of 14 pediatric patients (nine male; median age at diagnosis, 3 years). Of the 14 patients, six had a history of previous open heart surgery, while four had undergone tetralogy of Fallot repair, with transannular patch or Rastelli procedure. Among the 10 children with positive blood cultures, the most common isolated organism was Staphylococcus spp. (8/10, 80%). Eleven adult patients had IE and CHD. Among the adult patients, only four were diagnosed with CHD before IE, and ventricular septal defect was the most common CHD. The most common isolated organism was Streptococcus spp. (6/11, 55%). Compared with adult patients, pediatric patients had a higher incidence of previously diagnosed CHD (P=0.001), with Staphylococcus spp. as the causative organism (P =0.027). The median duration between the onset of symptoms and diagnosis of IE was 9 days in children and 42 days in adults (P=0.012). CONCLUSIONS: Significant differences with regard to the diagnosis and progress of IE were observed between children and adults. Ageadjusted and systematic reassessment may be necessary for the diagnosis and management of IE.
Adult* ; Arterial Switch Operation ; Child* ; Diagnosis ; Endocarditis* ; Heart Defects, Congenital* ; Heart Septal Defects, Ventricular ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Medical Records ; Retrospective Studies ; Staphylococcus ; Streptococcus ; Tertiary Care Centers* ; Tertiary Healthcare* ; Tetralogy of Fallot ; Thoracic Surgery