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

Antibiotic therapy for staphylococcal endocarditis is based on in vitro susceptibility, antibiotic efficacy in experimental endocarditis, and clinical experience. Native valve endocarditis due to Staphylococcus aureus in non-addicts is treated with four to six weeks of a penicillinase-resistant penicillin, a cephalosporin, or vancomycin. An aminoglycoside can be added for the initial three to five days, but longer-term multiple-drug therapy (adding an aminoglycoside and rifampin) is reserved for unresponsive infection. Right-sided native valve endocarditis in addicts usually responds to less vigorous therapy than that for native valve endocarditis in non-addicts. Vancomycin is the drug of choice for endocarditis due to methicillin-resistant S. aureus. Intrinsic methicillin-resistance in Staphylococcus epidermidis is often cryptic, requiring special tests for detection. Methicillin-resistant S. epidermidis is the major cause of prosthetic valve endocarditis. Vancomycin, rifampin, and gentamicin therapy for two weeks, followed by vancomycin plus rifampin, is recommended for treating this infection. Despite potent antimicrobial therapy, surgery is important in the therapy of complicated endocarditis, particularly prosthetic valve endocarditis.
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PMID:Staphylococcal endocarditis. Laboratory and clinical basis for antibiotic therapy. 389 13

New guidelines have recommended that gentamicin in combination with ampicillin be used for prophylaxis of bacterial endocarditis in patients with prosthetic heart valves. This article reviews some of the important and practical considerations for its use by the dentist. Gentamicin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic most exclusively reserved for treatment of serious infections caused by gram-negative bacteria in which less toxic antibacterials are ineffective. It has also been shown to be impressive in combination with penicillin in treating high-risk endocarditis patients. All strains of enterococci that are resistant to penicillin plus streptomycin are almost always sensitive to penicillin plus gentamicin. There is minimal absorption into the bloodstream from the gastrointestinal tract after oral administration but rapid absorption after intramuscular injection. Peak serum concentrations appear 30 to 90 minutes after intramuscular injection. The T1/2 is 2 hours, and in normal kidneys 85% to 95% of the drug is excreted within 24 hours by glomerular filtration. Ototoxicity and nephrotoxicity are the most serious toxic effects resulting from gentamicin therapy. The incidence of ototoxicity is about 2%, with affected patients experiencing vestibular effects rather than hearing loss. Nephrotoxicity is usually not seen before the patient has had 5 to 7 days of frequent dosing for treatment of systemic infections; the incidence is 2% to 4%. There are no data to suggest that ototoxicity or nephrotoxicity will occur in the patient given a single intramuscular injection of gentamicin for the prophylaxis of bacterial endocarditis. A single intramuscular or intravenous injection each of ampicillin and gentamicin should provide adequate blood levels for protection in the endocarditis patient for at least 4 to 5 hours.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Gentamycin for prophylaxis of bacterial endocarditis: a review for the dentist. 389 42

Fifty six cases of tricuspid infective endocarditis (TIE) were seen over a period of 15 years. The patients were divided into three groups, on the basis of the site of entry: (a) Thirty one TIE after abortion (6 cases) or in association with drug addiction (25 cases) are characterized by the young age of the patients and the organism (29 staphylococci), the existence of repeated pulmonary emboli and the relatively favourable prognosis (3 deaths). (b) Twelve TIE due to an intravenous infusion catheter (9 cases) or a visceral site of entry: older patients, resistant organisms (3 gram negative bacilli, 8 staphylococci, 5 of which were methicillin-resistant) and with poor prognosis (8 deaths). (c) Thirteen TIE where the site of entry was unidentified, running a sub-acute course, 7 due to streptococci, and often associated with involvement of the left side of the heart, which was the dominant prognostic feature (6 deaths). Mortality was 30%. Of predominant importance in prognosis was the sensitivity of the organism: 6 deaths out of 9 TIE due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and 3 out of 31 TIE due to a sensitive staphylococcus (P less than 0.01). Seventeen underwent surgery. Tricuspidectomy (8 patients) should be reserved for cases of uncontrolled infection. Surgery is not justified by the persistence of pulmonary emboli.
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PMID:Tricuspid infective endocarditis: 56 cases. 651 76

We reviewed a consecutive series of 90 patients undergoing concomitant resection of ascending aortic anerysm and aortic valve replacement (AVR) utilizing noncomposite "conventional" techniques in order to assess the early and late results, to define limitations of this operative approach, and thereby to clarify the indications for composite reconstruction of the aortic root. Mean age was 55 years. Twenty percent had Marfan's syndrome, and 13% had aortic dissections. The cause of the aneurysm was dissection in 13% of cases, syphilis in 11%, atherosclerosis in 9%, and degeneration (with or without cystic medionecrosis) in 67%. Follow-up averaged 3.8 years and extended to 11.5 years maximum. AVR and complete excision of the aneurysm (preserving small tongues of aortic wall circumscribing the coronary artery ostia) coupled with tubular graft replacement of the ascending aorta were performed. Nineteen percent of patients required individual technical modifications relating to the coronary arteries. Operative mortality rate was 13%, with the majority of deaths being due to cardiac causes. Contemporary (1975 to 1978) operative mortality rate was 4.3%. Seven percent required re-exploration for hemorrhage and 2.4% had perioperative myocardial infarctions. Late functional results were generally good (average N.Y.H.A. Class 1.4). Late thromboembolism, angina, myocardial infarction, and congestive heart failure occurred at linearized rates of 3.4% per patient-year, 4.9% per patient-year, 1.1% per patient-year, and 5.2% per patient-year, respectively. No prosthetic valve endocarditis, graft infection, or recurrent aneurysms of the aortic root were observed. Late reoperation was necessary in eight patients (3% per patient-year), but reoperation for disease confined to the ascending aorta accounted for only three of these cases (1.1% per patient-year). Overall actuarial survival rates were 67% +/- 5% at 5 years and 50% +/- 9% at 10 years; survival rates for the 78 operative survivors were 77% +/- 5% and 57% +/- 10% at the same time intervals, respectively. Only one late death could be attributed to complications arising in the reconstructed aortic root. These results confirm that such simple, noncomposite techniques are safe, portend minimal risk of late complications and the attendant necessity for reoperation, and provide satisfactory long-term survival. We believe that composite techniques should be primarily reserved for selected cases of advanced necrotizing prosthetic or natural endocarditis.
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PMID:Concomitant resection of ascending aortic aneurysm and replacement of the aortic valve: operative and long-term results with "conventional" techniques in ninety patients. 698 12

The results of preoperative echocardiography were compared with the pathologic findings at the time of surgery in 24 patients undergoing valve surgery for endocarditis. Of the 32 valves involved by vegetations, 27 (84%) were identified preoperatively. Valve destruction was correctly predicted in 16 of 18 cases. Myocardial abscess formation was detected in only one of the five patients in whom it occurred. Overall, the echocardiograms satisfactorily predicted the pathologic anatomy in 20 cases. In the remaining four patients, the echocardiographic description was seriously incomplete or misleading. Thus, surgery can be recommended on the basis of the clinical and echocardiograhic findings for patients with endocarditis. Cardiac catheterization is reserved for patients in whom significant coronary artery disease or intracardiac shunts are suspected or in whom a satisfactory echocardiogram cannot be obtained.
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PMID:Echocardiographic and surgical correlations in bacterial endocarditis. 739 91

Since an earlier review in the Journal substantial additional data have accumulated, further clarifying the in vitro activity, pharmacokinetic profile, clinical efficacy and tolerability of teicoplanin. Recent therapeutic trials confirm the efficacy of teicoplanin in the treatment of microbiologically confirmed Gram-positive infections, including septicaemia, endocarditis, and infections of skin and soft tissue, bone and joints, and the lower respiratory tract. As teicoplanin can be administered once daily intramuscularly as well as intravenously, it has potential for outpatient treatment of severe Gram-positive infections. Teicoplanin is appropriate as treatment of patients with fever and neutropenia, but there is still controversy over the timing for introduction of glycopeptide antibiotics into therapeutic regimens. Teicoplanin is generally reserved for secondary therapy of patients with documented bacteraemia who fail to respond to initial empirical antibiotic regimens, but probably should be part of the initial empirical regimen in the setting of a high incidence of methicillin-resistant staphylococci. Teicoplanin has a lower propensity than vancomycin to impair renal function when either drug is combined with an aminoglycoside, causes fewer anaphylactoid reactions, and appears to be of comparable efficacy. Thus, teicoplanin may be preferred to vancomycin in the treatment of Gram-positive infections, and where a glycopeptide antibiotic is deemed a necessary inclusion in a regimen for empirical treatment in patients with fever and neutropenia.
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PMID:Teicoplanin. A reappraisal of its antimicrobial activity, pharmacokinetic properties and therapeutic efficacy. 752 Aug 60

The authors report two cases of prosthetic valve endocarditis due to Coxiella burnetii. The histories were chronic and complex suggesting an auto-immune disease: prolonged recurrent fever despite antibiotic therapy with a biological inflammatory syndrome whilst blood cultures remained negative. The first patient presented with prosthetic valve dehiscence and acute glomerulonephritis. The second patient had coagulation defects with prosthetic valve thrombosis, mesenteric adenopathy and congestive cardiac failure without prosthetic valve dysfunction. In suspected endocarditis with negative blood cultures, serological tests should be extended to intracellular pathogens difficult to identify and justifying specific and prolonged bactericidal therapy (fluoroquinolones, cyclines, rifampincine). Long-term serological surveillance is essential even when the outcome could have led to the termination of antibiotic therapy. Usually, antibiotic therapy provides a bacteriological cure, but treatment has to be continued for at least 3 years, and, in some patients, all their lives. Valve replacement is reserved for haemodynamic complications of the pathology which determine the ultimate prognosis.
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PMID:[Coxiella burnetii endocarditis on a mechanical valvular prosthesis. Apropos of 2 cases]. 764 71

Most textbook authors still endorse penicillin G as the specific antibiotic of choice for pneumococcal pneumonia. However, problems with early precise etiologic diagnosis of pneumonia and the emergence of drug-resistant pneumococci cause penicillin to be seldom used for this purpose today. A third explanation for the infrequent use of penicillin is lack of clear consensus dosing guidelines. Emergence of pneumococci resistant to the newer cephalosporins and concerns about overuse of vancomycin, however, have prompted renewed interest in the development of precise, rapid methods for diagnosis of pneumococcal pneumonia with the implication that penicillin might be used more frequently. We review several issues concerning penicillin dosing: intermittent vs continuous therapy, high dose vs low dose, relationship of dose to resistance, and cost-effective pharmacology. An optimum "high-dose" regimen for life-threatening pneumococcal pneumonia in a 70-kg adult consists of a 3 million unit (mu) loading dose followed by continuous infusion of 10 to 12 mu of freshly prepared drug every 12 h. The maintenance dose should be reduced in elderly patients and in patients with renal failure according to the following formula: dose (mu/24 h = 4+[creatinine clearance divided by 7]). This regimen provides a penicillin serum level of 16 to 20 microg/mL, which should suffice for all but the most highly resistant strains (minimum inhibitory concentration > or = 4 microg/mL). Newer cephalosporins and vancomycin can be reserved for patients with suspected meningitis or endocarditis or for localities in which highly resistant pneumococci are known to be prevalent.
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PMID:Penicillin dosing for pneumococcal pneumonia. 940 65

Chronic forms of Q fever (endocarditis) are rare, but are responsible for severe and desperately recurrent infections, resulting in multiple valve replacements with a reserved prognosis. The authors report the case of a 35-year-old patient with a known history of rheumatic fever, who developed blood culture negative infectious endocarditis on a mitral bioprosthesis. The diagnosis of Q fever was based on serological arguments. Despite long-term antibiotic therapy, serology remained strongly positive and was associated with repeated mitral valve disinsertion. The patient died immediately after the fourth operation in a context of haemodynamic failure. This clinical case emphasizes the importance of performing Q fever serology in any case of culture negative endocarditis and the therapeutic difficulties encountered in chronic recurrent endocarditis.
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PMID:[Coxiella burnetti infectious endocarditis. Apropos of a case]. 958 33

All series of infective endocarditis had a variable proportion of cases without an etiologic agent because all cultures were negative. New microbiologic techniques have permitted the discovery of the role of many microorganisms in infective endocarditis. C. burnetii is an increasing causative agent of subacute infective endocarditis. In the diagnosis, to the detection of antiphase-I antibodies, immunohistochemical, molecular techniques and cellular cultures have been added. Total cure is difficult to obtain. The combination of doxicicline plus ciprofloxacin for at least 3 years has been proposed as the treatment of choice. Surgery must be reserved for patients with cardiac insufficiency. Less than 2% of cases of acute brucellosis are complicate with infective endocarditis. Infective endocarditis produces serious and rapid valvular destruction with high mortality rates if valve surgery is not performed. For medical treatment at least 3 active agents are required. Bartonella has recently been described as an etiologic agent of infective endocarditis. It mainly affects to homeless people living in poor hygienic conditions. The aortic valve is most commonly involved and, frequently, valve insufficiency requires valve replacement. Blood culture isolation needs long incubation periods. Parenteral nutrition, immunosuppression, wide spectrum antibiotic regimens, intravenous drug addiction and cardiovascular surgery are risk factors previously described in the development of fungal endocarditis. C. albicans and Aspergillus spp. are most frequent etiologic agents. Infective endocarditis should be suspected in any patient with systemic fungal disease. Blood cultures are often negative except for Candida spp. Peripheral emboli and large vegetations are frequent. Mortality is high, antifungal therapy combined with surgery is the treatment of choice. Legionella, Mycoplasma, Chlamydia, Mycobacteria, viruses are potential agents of infective endocarditis, and difficult to diagnose because of special culture requirements. Epidemiological clues, serologic and molecular techniques and blood cultures could identify them.
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PMID:[Infective endocarditis caused by unusual microorganisms]. 965 53


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