Successful surgical treatment approach for mitral valve vegetation of infective endocarditis after severe soft tissue infection with mediastinitis.

Transesophageal echocardiography is mandatory if you do suspect infective endocarditis. By approaching via a small right thoracotomy, vegetectomy and mitral valvuloplasty following severe mediastinitis were successfully accomplished without any complications.

Successful surgical treatment approach for mitral valve vegetation of infective endocarditis after severe soft tissue infection with mediastinitis.

An independent 59-year-old Asian man presented with a current history of fever, left shoulder pain and unconsciousness.Contrast-enhanced computed tomography revealed mediastinitis with expansive fluid collection. During the mediastinitis treatment, huge vegetation was sequentially confirmed at the annulus of the mitral valve and was successfully treated via small right thoracotomy.

Austrian syndrome, ceftriaxone-induced agranulocytosis and COVID-19

We present a case of a 75-year-old woman with Austrian syndrome: pneumonia, meningitis and endocarditis all due to Streptococcus pneumoniae. Transoesophageal echocardiogram demonstrated a large mitral valve vegetation with severe mitral regurgitation. She was treated with intravenous ceftriaxone and listed for surgical repair of her mitral valve. Preoperatively, she developed an idiosyncratic drug-induced agranulocytosis secondary to ceftriaxone, which resolved on cessation of the medication. However, while awaiting neutrophil recovery, she developed an acute deterioration, becoming critically unwell. This deterioration was multifactorial, with acute decompensated heart failure alongside COVID-19. After multidisciplinary discussion, she was considered too unwell for surgery and palliated.

Of Equestrians and Endocarditis

an 80-year old female was transferred from an outside hospital for concerns of a mitral valve vegetation and sepsis. Her past medical history included untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and atrial fibrillation on warfarin therapy. The patient was otherwise very active and enjoyed daily rides on her horses. She initially presented with altered mental status and was found to be in septic shock with respiratory failure requiring intubation. Initial head CT showed an ischemic stroke in the bilateral frontal lobes. Echocardiogram showed a large mitral valve vegetation. A repeat CT of her head obtained for clinical decline revealed hemorrhagic conversion of her ischemic stroke. She began to have seizure activity that was treated with Keppra. Blood cultures grew Streptococcus zooepidemicus, and she was subsequently transferred to our tertiary medical center for increased level of care.

Pseudo-endocarditis secondary to ruptured posteromedial papillary muscle with anatomical variation: A Case Report

Myocardial infarction is the leading cause of papillary muscle rupture. This complication occurs in up to 5% of cases post MI and although rare, it constitutes a cardiac emergency if left untreated. On this basis, a 59-year-old male presented with low-grade fever and atypical chest pain with raised inflammatory markers and troponin levels. He was treated for infective endocarditis after echocardiography revealed a mass on the mitral valve, which was presumed to be a mitral valve vegetation and so he completed a 6-weeks course of antibiotics followed by elective mitral valve replacement surgery. During surgery, it was discovered that there was no endocarditis. Instead an unusually small muscle head of one of the posteromedial papillary muscle groups had ruptured secondary to an inferior myocardial infarction. This ruptured muscle head was highly mobile and mimicked a mitral valve vegetation. The mitral valve was successfully repaired, and the right coronary artery grafted. He made a full recovery but developed new-onset atrial fibrillation for which he is awaiting elective cardioversion. One should have a high index of suspicion for diagnosing papillary muscle rupture as it may mimic valvular vegetation on echocardiography, especially if the papillary muscle involved is an anatomical variant.

Streptobacillus moniliformis mitral valve endocarditis and septic arthritis: the challenges of diagnosing rat-bite fever endocarditis

Streptobacillus moniliformis, the cause of rat-bite fever (RBF) in the United States, has rarely been reported as a cause of infectious endocarditis. In the majority of previously reported cases, the diagnosis was clinically based in patients with underlying valvular abnormalities in the setting of positive blood culture for Streptobacillus moniliformis. We report a case of native valve endocarditis secondary to Streptobacillus moniliformis in a woman with a mitral valve vegetation but negative blood cultures where the diagnosis was established using molecular diagnostics on the valvular tissue.