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

Fever persisting despite adequate antimicrobial therapy for endocarditis can be an ominous sign. To evaluate the significance of persistent fever in this situation, we reviewed the records of patients at three hospital affiliates of Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Twenty-six patients with 27 episodes of endocarditis and fever lasting for > or = 2 weeks despite appropriate antimicrobial therapy were identified and compared with a matched cohort of 26 patients with endocarditis but without prolonged fever. The median duration of fever in the former group was 35 days. Cardiac infection caused fever in 13 of these patients, seven of whom had myocardial abscesses. Additional causes of infection included drug treatment, nosocomial transmission of pathogens, and pulmonary emboli. Sixteen patients required cardiac surgery (seven on an emergent basis), whereas only two controls underwent such a procedure (P < .001). Twenty-two patients with persistent fever and five controls developed nosocomial complications (P < .001). Six patients with fever died, five from endocarditis-related complications. Thus persistent fever often indicates complicated endocarditis. We present an approach for the evaluation of the patients affected by this condition.
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PMID:Persistent fever in association with infective endocarditis. 145 71

Cardiac infection usually refers to infective endocarditis (IE) and purulent pericarditis. Though, IE was initially observed in patients with congenital or rheumatic heart disease, currently, persons with prosthetic cardiac valves and with degenerative heart disease account for the majority of the cases and there has been a significant trend toward an increase in the age of patients. Echocardiography, especially, transesophageal echocardiography, has provided valuable information for diagnosis. Since cure requires eradication of all the organisms, bactericidal agents must be used sufficient period to sterilize the vegetation. Overall mortality from recent reports is 10%. Purulent pericarditis almost always occurs in the setting of other serious disease and it's specific signs are often absent, so the disease still carries a high mortality.
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PMID:[Cardiac infection]. 812 2