We used broad-range eubacterial PCR amplification followed by direct sequencing to identify microbial pathogens in heart valve material from 29 patients with histologically confirmed infective endocarditis and 23 patients free of infective endocarditis. Microorganisms cultured by conventional techniques matched those identified by PCR in 21 cases. PCR alone identified the causative agent in thr...

Background: Lead-related infections that might develop after pacemaker implantation associated with high mortality and morbidity rates are challenging to manage and pose high-cost. Patients with lead-related infections usually present with fever, chills and fatigue and the treatment can be challenging unless the implant system is extracted. Case presentation: A 66-year old male patient who und...

The risk of infective endocarditis in chronic hemodialysis patients is markedly higher than that in the general population. We report the first case of a hemodialysis patient with infective endocarditis caused by Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis (SDSE) who presented with streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. In the last decade, there has been an increase in the incidence of SDSE infe...

Cardiac vegetations result from bacterium-platelet adherence, activation and aggregation, and are associated with increased morbidity and mortality in infective endocarditis. The GPIIb/IIIa and FcγRIIa platelet receptors play a central role in platelet adhesion, activation and aggregation induced by endocarditis pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus, but the influence of known polymorphisms o...

the bicuspid aortic valve is known to be the most common congenital cardiac malformation, with an approximate incidence rate of 1-2% in the general population. most patients are unaware of the disease until the onset of infective endocarditis, which is a life-threatening complication that may affect a heart valve or other cardiac structures at the site of endothelial damage. a 22-year-old man p...

INTRODUCTION Fungal endocarditis is reported less frequently than bacterial endocarditis, with an incidence of 0-12% of the total pediatric infective endocarditis. OBJECTIVE In this study, the incidence of infective endocarditis in Candida bloodstream infections in a tertiary hospital during the periods of 2007 and 2016 was reviewed. METHODS Patients with positive blood or catheter cultures...

The diagnosis of prosthetic valve endocarditis continues to present a diagnostic challenge, due to the lower sensitivity of the modified Duke criteria and a higher percentage of negative or inconclusive echocardiography results. Diagnostic delay might result in significant morbidity/mortality. Imaging modalities like 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography/comput...

Background: Infective endocarditis (IE) is a life-threatening systemic disease that mostly affects people with valvular heart disease, prosthetic valves, or intracardiac devices. Infective endocarditis is a dangerous cardiac involvement in thalassemia patients. Thus, a multidisciplinary approach is important to provide efficient and effective therapy. Case presentation: A 31-year-old man cam...

BACKGROUND Infective endocarditis is a life threatening complication of intravenous drug abuse, which continues to be a major burden with inadequately characterised long-term outcomes. We reviewed our institutional experience of surgical treatment of infective endocarditis in active intravenous drug abusers with the aim of identifying the determinants long-term outcome of this distinct subgroup...