BACKGROUND The CardioMEMS Heart Failure System is a well validated tool to optimize management of systolic and diastolic heart failure and has been shown to reduce the risk of hospitalization by 37%. We are reporting a unique case of acute aortic valve insufficiency as a first sign of endocarditis, detected early in a patient with the CardioMEMS device. CASE REPORT A 79-year-old man with dual b...

A 37-year-old man presenting with fever and chest pain was admitted to our hospital. Electrocardiogram showed sinus tachycardia and complete left bundle branch block. Transthoracic echocardiogram showed infective endocarditis in the bicuspid aortic valve, complicated by multiple hyperechoic vegetations and severe aortic regurgitation. Blood cultures were negative and intravenous empiric antibio...

Introduction.Listeria monocytogenes is a rare etiology of infectious endocarditis with only 30 cases of prosthetic valve and about twice as many native valve infections described in the literature. We describe an unusual presentation of an endovascular embolic phenomenon with associated lower extremity mycotic aneurysm due to Listeria monocytogenes prosthetic aortic valve and aortic endograft i...

The rabbit model of endocarditis was used to test the effectiveness of vancomycin and two different lysostaphin dosing regimens for the treatment of infections caused by a Staphylococcus aureus strain with reduced susceptibility to vancomycin (glycopeptide-intermediate susceptible S. aureus [GISA]). Vancomycin was ineffective, with no evidence of sterilization of aortic valve vegetations. Howev...

The echocardiographic features were recorded in three patients with spontaneous disruption of implanted tissue aortic valves. Two of the patients had xenografts, and one had a homograft. Aortic regurgitation had developed in all three spontaneously in the absence of active infective endocarditis. In each case there was severe disruption of the valve. Similar echocardiographic features have been...

Streptococcus vestibularis is a recently described member of the viridans group that was first isolated from the vestibular mucosa of the human oral cavity and described as a new species in 1988. It has been rarely associated with human infections. In few papers, it has been reported as a causal agent of systemic infection in immunosupressed adults and in those with other severe underlying dise...

Pneumococcal endocarditis is a rare entity, corresponding to 1 to 3% of native valve endocarditis cases. It has a typically adverse prognosis, with high mortality. There is a reported predilection for the aortic valve; thus, a common presentation is acute left heart failure. We present a case of a 60-year-old woman with a history of sinusitis, who was admitted with the diagnosis of pneumonia. S...

It is important to diagnose and treat diseases of the aortic valve. Untreated aortic valve disease can eventually result in heart failure, severe infection, and even sudden death. Some patients present with severe symptoms, whereas others have few, if any symptoms. The diagnosis may be made on a routine physical examination. Regular medical follow-up, treatment to prevent infection of the valve...

Aortic-mitral valve discontinuity has previously been described in double outlet right ventricle, endocardial cushion defect, single ventricle, tetralogy of Fallot, and prolapse of the mitral valve. We are reporting two additional examples of aortic-mitral valve discontinuity including 15 cases of gross left ventricular dilatation and a case of acute pneumococcal bacterial endocarditis with a l...

Aortic-mitral valve discontinuity has previously been described in double outlet right ventricle, endocardial cushion defect, single ventricle, tetralogy of Fallot, and prolapse of the mitral valve. We are reporting two additional examples of aortic-mitral valve discontinuity including 15 cases of gross left ventricular dilation and a case of acute pneumococcal bacterial endocarditis with a la...