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Query: UMLS:C0014118 (endocarditis)
 15,629 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The complications arising out of the installation of pacemakers are listed and classified and it is suggested that a syndrome characterized by recurrent pleural effusion recalcitrant to the usual medico-depletive therapies, observed in four patients with pacemakers, should be included among such complications. The clinical pictures of the syndrome is described in detail and particular attention is paid to its date of onset in relation to installation of the pacemaker, early symptomatology, the most typical symptoms, clinico-humoral development, prognosis and therapy. Some theoretical and practical remarks are also offered, specifically three pathogenetic suggestions are formulated on the basis of clinical and developmental features but mainly in relation to humoral and immunological findings. These suggestions stress alternative interpretations of the syndrome: A) as an autoimmune disease arising secondary to surgical denaturation of myocardial and/or endocardial autoantigens; B) as a systemic autoimmune disease due to congenital or acquired insufficiency of immunological homeostasis; C) as a monosymptomatic pleural form of systemic lupus erythematodes with late clinical outbreak. The fascinating pathogenetic, clinical, biological and therapeutic resemblances between the present syndrome and the post-infarctual syndrome of Dressler and Johnson's post-pericardiotomic syndrome are pointed out and it is suggested that complications of medical nature already described as being secondary to the installation of pacemakers, such as endocarditis and pericarditis, should be looked at from an autoimmune type of pathogenetic viewpoint. Finally, in the light of personal observations, the need for immunological study of high risk patients, namely relations of patients with autoimmune diseases, is stressed. All candidates for pacemaker installation should also be included. Routine screening of this type would take on enormous practical importance as it would enable preventive or curative treatment to be undertaken to modify the immunitary balance of those subjects in whom pacemaker installation is liable to trigger off critical, irreversible breakdown in immunitary homoeostasis of which the syndrome in question would seem to be the most dramatic, but perhaps no the only, clinical manifestation.
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PMID:[On a syndrome of immunopathic type with pleural and systemic localization observed in patients with intracavitary electrostimulators. Considerations on 4 cases]. 96 39

The natural history of the cardiovascular manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have been altered by corticosteroids which exert their own cardiovascular effects. This study describes clinical and necropsy observations in 36 corticosteroid-treated patients with SLE and compares them to necropsy observations in patients with SLE reported before the use of corticosteroid therapy. The 36 patients averaged 32 years of age, and 33 were women. Systemic hypertension was present in 25 (69 per cent) and left ventricular hypertrophy in 23 (64 per cent) patients. Hypertension was twice as common in the 19 patients who received this drug for more than 12 months (average 38 months) than in the 17 patients who received this drug for less than 12 months (average 6 months), and was almost five times more common among our patients than in patients with SLE in the presteroid era. Congestive cardiac failure occurred in 15 patients (43 per cent), eight times more frequent than that reported in noncorticosteroid-treated patients with SLE. Subepicardial and myocardial fat was increased in all 36 patients. Lupus carditis was similar in frequency but differed morphologically in our patients compared to those not treated with corticosteroids. Libman-Sacks-type endocardial lesions, present in 18 (50 per cent) of our patients, were smaller, fewer in number, univalvular rather than multivalvular, and mainly left-sided. Most verrucae were either partly or completely healed, and some were calcified. Pericarditis, present in 19 (53 per cent) patients, was predominantly of the fibrous type. Myocarditis was present in three patients, each of whom also had endocarditis and pericarditis. The lumen of at least one of the three major coronary arteries was narrowed more than 50 per cent by atherosclerotic plaques in 42 per cent of the 18 patients who received corticosteroids for more than 1 year, but in none of the 17 patients who received corticosteroids for less than 1 year. Four of the eight patients with narrowed coronary arteries had myocardial infarcts. Although vital to the management of SLE, corticosteroids have an over-all deleterious effect on the heart. Systemic hypertension and left ventricular hypertrophy appear or, when present, worsen; congestive cardiac failure increases; epicardial apartment of Me
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PMID:The heart in systemic lupus erythematosus and the changes induced in it by corticosteroid therapy. A study of 36 necropsy patients. 111 70

A prospective echocardiographic study was carried out on 55 patients with the recently described 'primary' antiphospholipid syndrome derived from three university medical centres. The prevalence of valvular lesions in patients with this syndrome was 38% compared with 4% in a control group of 55 healthy volunteers (P < 0.001). Mean age of patients with valve abnormalities was 42 +/- 12 years and of those without, 30 +/- 10 years (P < 0.05). One patient had a morphologic echocardiographic pattern suggestive of non-infective verrucous mitral endocarditis. Twenty patients had a two-dimensional or Doppler echocardiographic pattern of significant valvular dysfunction--either regurgitation or stenosis--without evidence of vegetations. Mitral and aortic regurgitation were the most common lesions in these patients. During follow-up of patients with valvular disease, haemodynamically significant clinical valve disease developed in four and surgery was required in one. Eleven patients had cerebrovascular occlusions. Thus, valvular heart disease, particularly affecting the mitral and aortic valves, is common in patients with the 'primary' antiphospholipid syndrome, especially in those over 40 years old.
Lupus 1991 Nov
PMID:High prevalence of significant heart valve lesions in patients with the 'primary' antiphospholipid syndrome. 184 63

A 25-year-old woman with active systemic lupus erythematosus and infective endocarditis was seen initially with porcine aortic bioprosthetic stenosis, perivalvar regurgitation, and native mitral regurgitation 9 years after aortic valve replacement for lupus endocarditis. Double-valve replacement was performed with St. Jude Medical mechanical prostheses. After operation the patient developed fever and an elevated white blood cell count. One month later she had increasing mitral and aortic perivalvular regurgitation and intermittent complete heart block. At reoperation both annuli showed evidence of continued infection, and she underwent annular reconstructions with pericardium and double-valve re-replacement. Cultures grew Mycoplasma hominis. Despite long-term therapy with appropriate antibiotics, within 2 months she developed recurrent perivalvar regurgitation with congestive heart failure. Orthotopic heart transplantation was performed. The postoperative course was notable for significant leukocytosis and spontaneous culture negative hemothorax that required thoracotomy for drainage. The patient recovered and is now well 14 months after operation.
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PMID:Heart transplantation for intractable prosthetic valve endocarditis. 231 73

Cerebral ischemia is very rare in children and young adults. There can be a multitude of causes; in many cases etiology remains undetermined. We report here on 7 cases, 11 to 25 years of age. Pathogenetic factors (lupus erythematodes, endocarditis, fibromuscular dysplasia) and risk factors (cigarette smoking, oral contraceptives) were found in 5 patients whereas in 2 cases the etiology was not determinable. Three patients were treated with low weight dextrans, two patients received prostaglandin E1, and in 2 cases regional thrombolysis was performed. Three female patients died, two with occlusions of the rostral part of the basilar artery and one with an occlusion of the carotid artery and lupus erythematodes as the primary disease. Long-term observations of the surviving patients showed good recovery from neurological deficits. Prognosis quoad sanationem seems better in this age group than in elderly patients.
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PMID:Cerebral ischemia in children and young adults. 245 51

Two young women (aged 32 and 25 years) with systemic lupus erythematosus and heart valve lesions in association with antiphospholipid antibodies are presented. In addition to the presence of the 'lupus anticoagulant' and false positive Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) tests, both patients had high levels of IgG anticardiolipin antibodies. The first patient additionally had contraceptive induced chorea, chorea gravidarum, seven miscarriages, livedo reticularis, pulmonary embolism, and thrombocytopenia and developed culture negative endocarditis as well as hypertension. The second patient, who had presented with hypertension, developed aortic and mitral regurgitation, suspected myocarditis, manifested transient ischaemic attacks, and responded well to anticoagulation and steroid treatment.
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PMID:Diagnostic and therapeutic problems in two patients with antiphospholipid antibodies, heart valve lesions, and transient ischaemic attacks. 314 42

We performed echocardiography prospectively 4.9 +/- 0.7 years apart (mean +/- SD), in 74 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. On the basis of the first study, the patients were distributed in four groups according to the type of valvular involvement: 7 patients had vegetations (Libman-Sacks endocarditis; group 1); 6 patients had rigid and thickened valves with stenosis, regurgitation, or both (group 2); 5 patients had miscellaneous forms of valvular involvement without valvular dysfunction (group 3), as did the 60 controls; and 56 patients had no valvular disease (group 4). The overall prevalence of clinically important valvular disease (groups 1 and 2) was 18 percent. Patients in group 1 were younger than those in group 2 (33.5 +/- 16.7 vs. 47.8 +/- 17.6 years; P less than 0.05), had a shorter mean duration of lupus (4.8 +/- 2.2 vs. 10.7 +/- 6.4 years; P less than 0.001), and had received a smaller cumulative dose of steroids (21.5 +/- 13.1 vs. 79.5 +/- 63.4 g of methylprednisolone or its equivalent; P less than 0.05). During the five-year follow-up, one patient in group 1 and five in group 2 required valve surgery, no patient in group 3 had valvular dysfunction, and five patients in group 4 had mild valvular lesions. We conclude that clinically important valvular involvement in systemic lupus is relatively frequent and sometimes requires surgery. Echocardiography can identify a subset of lesions (valvular thickening and dysfunction), other than verrucous (Libman-Sacks) endocarditis, that are prone to hemodynamic deterioration.
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PMID:Prevalence, morphologic types, and evolution of cardiac valvular disease in systemic lupus erythematosus. 341 13

A 30 year old man presenting with a 10 year history of delayed pressure urticaria had a secondary lupus-induced double mitral and aortic regurgitation which necessitated double valve replacement within 2 years. The anatomical appearances of the valvular lesions were very unusual and suggest a new anatomo-clinical form of the classical Libman-Sacks endocarditis. In addition to infective endocarditis, systemic lupus erythematosus may also lead to valvular lesions necessitating valve replacement. The association of S.L.E. and delayed urticaria is rare, and also merits publication.
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PMID:[Double valve replacement in a 30-year-old man with acute systemic lupus erythematosus]. 357 90

There are now many assays for the quantification of circulating immune complexes, each with distinct specificity and sensitivity. In a wide variety of rheumatic, infectious, neoplastic, and metabolic conditions, levels of circulating immune complexes may be elevated. In select situations, determination of circulating immune complex levels may help clinicians in the management of their patients. In lupus erythematosus, circulating immune complex levels, in conjunction with other immune parameters, may provide more insight into the disease course and activity than assessment of end organ parameters alone. In the differential diagnosis of infective endocarditis, serial levels of circulating immune complexes may provide evidence of effectiveness or failure of treatment. There is evidence that assays for circulating immune complexes may be of potential benefit in the management of Lyme disease and acute myelogenous leukemia.
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PMID:Clinical utility of assays for circulating immune complexes. 390 73

SLE affects most aspects of cardiac function, and recent studies have reported increasing cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Pathologically, SLE is characterized by a pancarditis involving pericardium, myocardium, endocardium, and coronary arteries. In autopsy series, pericarditis has been found in 43% to 100% (mean 62%, Table I), and myocarditis was found in 8% to 78% (mean 40%, Table II), but both have been underdiagnosed clinically. Libman-Sacks lesions have been noted in 25% to 100% (mean 43%) and infective endocarditis in 1.1% to 4.9% of clinical and autopsy studies (Table III). Coronary disease may be due to arteritis, which should be treated with high-dose steroids, or it may be due to atherosclerosis, which is amenable to medical or surgical therapy. Valvular disease has been treated surgically, but with a combined surgical mortality as high as 25%. Aortic insufficiency and mitral regurgitation are the most common valvular problems, although aortic and mitral stenosis have also been reported. Hypertension has been noted in 14% to 69%, and heart failure in 5% to 44%. Evidence for a lupus cardiomyopathy, which may be subclinical, is reviewed. While steroids may ameliorate SLE pancarditis, they have also been associated with hypertension, LV hypertrophy, purulent and constrictive pericarditis, mitral regurgitation, and perhaps accelerated atherosclerosis. It remains to be seen if improved diagnosis and treatment of the cardiovascular manifestations of SLE can enhance survival.
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PMID:Cardiovascular manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus. 390 17


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