Dataset Information

Risk Factors and Patient Profile of Infective Endocarditis due to Gemella spp.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The diagnosis of infective endocarditis is difficult, especially when it involves atypical organisms. Therefore, our study identified risk factors of infective endocarditis caused by rare pathogen, Gemella spp.

Methods

A systematic review was conducted to investigate characteristics of endocarditis patients infected with Gemella spp. using the search term "Gemella" and "endocarditis." Case reports were gathered by searching Medline/Pubmed, Google Scholar, CINAHL, Cochrane CENTRAL, and Web of Science databases. 83 articles were selected for review.

Results

Five species of Gemella were identified. Typical patients were males between 31 and 45 years of age. On admission, patients had fever, tachycardia, and normal blood pressure. Common clinical manifestation other than fever included fatigue and weakness, chills and sweating, and nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and weight changes. One in four reported a history of congenital heart disease, and a recent oral cavity infection. Laboratory tests reveal anemia, leukocytosis, and elevated erythrocyte sedimentation in all age groups, elevated C-reactive protein is observed among adult and geriatric populations only. Mitral and aortic valves were most commonly infected by Gemella spp.. The most common Gemella spp.-susceptible antibiotics were penicillin, vancomycin, cephalosporin, macrolide, and aminoglycosides. However, antibiotic resistance was observed against penicillin, aminoglycoside, and fluoroquinolone. Antibiotic course of at least six weeks resulted in superior clinical improvements than durations under six weeks. Finally, one in two patients underwent valve replacement or repair, with common complications affecting the cardiovascular, neurological, and renal systems. Finally, death occurred in 1 in 8 patients, half of which occurred post-surgical procedure, and the majority occurring equal to or greater than 1 week from admission.

Conclusion

Our systematic review highlights the importance of considering rare pathogens, particularly in the presence of predisposing risk factors.

SUBMITTER: Kariyanna PT

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7877815 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BACKGROUND:The rising incidence of infective endocarditis (IE) among people who inject drugs (PWID) has been a major concern across North America. The coincident rise in IE and change of drug preference to hydromorphone controlled-release (CR) among our PWID population in London, Ontario intrigued us to study the details of injection practices leading to IE, which have not been well characterized in literature. METHODS:A case-control study, using one-on-one interviews to understand risk factors and injection practices associated with IE among PWID was conducted. Eligible participants included those who had injected drugs within the last 3?months, were >?18??years old and either never had or were currently admitted for an IE episode. Cases were recruited from the tertiary care centers and controls without IE were recruited from outpatient clinics and addiction clinics in London, Ontario. RESULTS:Thirty three cases (PWID IE+) and 102 controls (PWID but IE-) were interviewed. Multivariable logistic regressions showed that the odds of having IE were 4.65 times higher among females (95% CI 1.85, 12.28; p?=?0.001) and 5.76 times higher among PWID who did not use clean injection equipment from the provincial distribution networks (95% CI 2.37, 14.91; p?<?0.001). Injecting into multiple sites and heating hydromorphone-CR prior to injection were not found to be significantly associated with IE. Hydromorphone-CR was the most commonly injected drug in both groups (90.9% cases; 81.4% controls; p?=?0.197). DISCUSSION:Our study highlights the importance of distributing clean injection materials for IE prevention. Furthermore, our study showcases that females are at higher risk of IE, which is contrary to the reported literature. Gender differences in injection techniques, which may place women at higher risk of IE, require further study. We suspect that the very high prevalence of hydromorphone-CR use made our sample size too small to identify a significant association between its use and IE, which has been established in the literature.