A 35-year-old female with a background of intravenous drug use, infective endocarditis, Hepatitis C and alcohol abuse presented with generalized weakness and malaise. She had previously been admitted for infective endocarditis but was discharged against medical advice. During this current admission, three sets of blood cultures were taken over a 24-h period and all three sets grew methicillin-r...

BACKGROUND The optimal timing of cardiac operations in patients with infective endocarditis continues to be debated. This observational study analyzed the profile and outcome of patients with active infective endocarditis undergoing operations. METHODS Between June 2000 and June 2006, 95 surgically treated patients with definite infective endocarditis by the modified Duke criteria were includ...

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to assess the quality of the management of infective endocarditis. BACKGROUND Although many guidelines on the management of infective endocarditis exist, the quality of this management has not been evaluated. METHODS We collected data on all patients (116) hospitalized with infective endocarditis over 1 year in all hospitals in the Rhône-Alpes region...

BACKGROUND Accounts of renal pathological findings in infective endocarditis are mostly based on studies from many years ago. We reviewed a group of patients with infective endocarditis in the light of modern concepts of renal pathology, including the largest reported series of renal biopsies in this condition. METHODS Renal tissue was available for retrospective study from 62 patients with c...