Pseudomonas aeruginosa endocarditis in drug addicts.

Bacterial endocarditis is a serious medical complication of heroin addiction and should be suspected in any addict with a fever and positive blood cultures. However, gram-negative bacteria, and particularly Pseudomonas aeruginosa, are uncommon causes of bacterial endocarditis and their presence in a blood culture may be dismissed as a contaminant or as originating from another site. Therefore, to call attention to the problem and its clinical features, we are reporting six recently observed cases of P aeruginosa endocarditis in heroin addicts.