Project description:Infective endocarditis (IE) is a rare, life-threatening disease that has long-lasting effects even among patients who survive and are cured. IE disproportionately affects those with underlying structural heart disease and is increasingly associated with health care contact, particularly in patients who have intravascular prosthetic material. In the setting of bacteraemia with a pathogenic organism, an infected vegetation may form as the end result of complex interactions between invading microorganisms and the host immune system. Once established, IE can involve almost any organ system in the body. The diagnosis of IE may be difficult to establish and a strategy that combines clinical, microbiological and echocardiography results has been codified in the modified Duke criteria. In cases of blood culture-negative IE, the diagnosis may be especially challenging, and novel microbiological and imaging techniques have been developed to establish its presence. Once diagnosed, IE is best managed by a multidisciplinary team with expertise in infectious diseases, cardiology and cardiac surgery. Antibiotic prophylaxis for the prevention of IE remains controversial. Efforts to develop a vaccine that targets common bacterial causes of IE are ongoing, but have not yet yielded a commercially available product.
Project description:Infective endocarditis is a rare condition in humans and is associated with high illness and death rates. We describe a case of infective endocarditis caused by Staphylococcus succinus bacteria in France. We used several techniques for susceptibility testing for this case to determine the oxacillin profile.
Project description:Cardiac hemangiomas are rare and often misdiagnosed due to their nonspecific clinical presentations. We report a case of a 70-year-old man presenting with chills and cold sweats, initially suspected of having infective endocarditis based on echocardiographic findings of a mobile mass on the mitral valve. Laboratory results showed leukocytosis and elevated C-reactive protein, but blood cultures were negative. Transesophageal echocardiography later revealed a well-defined mass with characteristics suggestive of a tumor. Surgical excision confirmed the diagnosis of hemangioma. Postoperative recovery was uneventful, with no mitral regurgitation. This case highlights the importance of considering cardiac tumors in the differential diagnosis of intracardiac masses.
Project description:Infective endocarditis, a serious infection of the endocardium of the heart, particularly the heart valves, is associated with a high degree of illness and death. It generally occurs in patients with altered and abnormal heart architecture, in combination with exposure to bacteria through trauma and other potentially high-risk activities involving transient bacteremia. Knowledge about the origins of endocarditis stems from the work of Fernel in the early 1500s, and yet this infection still presents physicians with major diagnostic and management dilemmas. Endocarditis is caused by a variety of bacteria and fungi, as well as emerging infectious agents, including Tropheryma whiplei, Bartonella spp., and Rickettsia spp. We review the evolution of endocarditis and compare its progression with discoveries in microbiology, science, and medicine.
Project description:S. aureus has a propensity to cause endocarditis; diabetes mellitus is a frequent underlying comorbitity in patents with S. aureus endocarditis. S. aureus Affymetrix GeneChips were used to compare S. aureus expression properties in cardiac vegatations isolated from diabetic and nondiabetic rats. S. aureus Affymetrix GeneChips were also used to compare the S. aureus expression properties of cardiac vegatations (both diabetic and nondiabetic) in comparsions to planktonic cells. Few differences were observed between the expression properties of S. aureus harvested from diabetic vs. nondiabetic cardiac vegatations. Significant differences were observed between the expression properties of S. aureus harvested from cardiac vegetations in comparison to exponential and/or stationary phase planktonically grown cells.