HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Personal Folders Download to citation manager Author home page(s): Hong Sheng Zhu A Thomas Pezzella Permission Requests Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Zhu, H. S. Articles by Pezzella, A T. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Zhu, H. S. Articles by Pezzella, A T. Related Collections Cardiac - other

Early Surgical Intervention for Infective Endocarditis

Ren Ji Hospital Shanghai Second Medical University Shanghai, People's Republic of China 1 Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery Department of Surgery University of Massachusetts Medical Center Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
For reprint information contact: A Thomas Pezzella, MD Tel: 1 605 399 4810 Fax: 1 618 241 3831 email: Thomas_Pezzella_MD{at}ssmhc.com Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Good Samaritan Hospital, 605 North 12th Street, Mount Vernon, IL 62864, USA.

Infective endocarditis remains a serious and complex disease with significant morbidity and mortality. Sixty cases of infective endocarditis were retrospectively reviewed, consisting of 41 males and 19 females aged 7 to 50 years (mean, 30 years). Congenital heart disease was diagnosed in 19 of the patients and rheumatic heart disease in 41. Congestive heart failure occurred in 36 and systemic embolism in 8 cases. Blood cultures were positive in only 21.7% of the cases, while vegetations were detected by 2-dimensional echocardiography in 70%. Elective surgery was performed in 57 patients and emergent operation for systemic arterial embolization and/or intractable congestive heart failure in 3 patients. Two patients required reoperation for postoperative bleeding. All but 2 patients had been followed up for 6 to 160 months with no evidence of reinfection. Three patients with mechanical valve implantation later died of intracranial bleeding due to over-anticoagulation. The remaining 55 resumed normal activity. The encouraging outcomes were the result of an aggressive diagnostic approach and early surgical intervention.