OBJECTIVES We sought to evaluate the feasibility and immediate and late results of mitral valve repair (MVRep) for acute and healed endocarditis. BACKGROUND Improvements in techniques of MVRep have extended its feasibility in complex lesions, but experience with endocarditis is limited. METHODS Among 78 patients operated on for mitral endocarditis between 1990 and 1999, 63 underwent MVRep. ...

Streptococcus species are important causes of infective endocarditis but species identification remains challenging. We report two cases of infective endocarditis due to Streptococcus tigurinus-like organisms, which were first identified by 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequence analysis and subsequently confirmed using phylogeny based on the analysis of the shetA gene encoding exfoliative toxin.

Glomerulonephritis (GN) is an immunological phenomenon in bacterial endocarditis. These may be pauci-immune/vasculitic GN, post-infective GN, and sub-endothelial membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis. Each type of glomerulonephritis usually occurs in isolation. We report a case of infective endocarditis with dual existence of pauci-immune/vasculitic GN and post infective type of GN at the sa...

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 vegetat...

A case of infective endocarditis in a 59-year-old female caused by Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans is reported. The organism was recovered from 9 blood cultures. Despite treatment with penicillin and gentamicin the illness led to destruction of the aortic valve.

A case of subacute bacterial endocarditis due to Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans followed dental extraction under penicillin cover. Isolation of the organism was only achieved by incubating blood cultures in a CO(2)-enriched atmosphere. The patient was successfully treated with streptomycin.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether perioperative bacteria identification in blood and/or in valve cultures can predict early and late outcome of surgery for infective endocarditis, a retrospective study was performed. METHODS Between January 1978 and December 1998, 232 patients, 79 (34.1%) female and 153 (65.9%) male with mean age of 44. 95+/-1.03 years (range 8-79) underwent surgery for infective...