Staphylococcal infections of the heart.

A SPATE of publicatioiis attest to the kconcern of physicians throughout the world about staphylococcal infections. The manifold clinical problems created by these infections touch upon all medical specialties. Cardiologists, however, must be especially concerned in view of the propensity of staphy-lococcal infection for secondary localization in the heart; in such cases the outcome depends principally upon the response to therapy of the cardiac infection. Furthermore, patients with acquired valvular or congenital heart disease are uniquely susceptible to cardiac infection with staphylococei that are ill other respects virtually nonpathogrenic for man. This review will be devoted principally to the biology of staphylococci related to path-ogenicity and to antibiotic treatment. The clinical and pathologic features of staphy-lococcal infections, areas in which the state of our knowledge has not changed greatly, will be treated more summarilt.