Diana Póvoas, Manuel de Figueiredo, António Murinello, Helena Damásio, Alexandra Ramos, Nuno Rodrigues, João Sousa, Fernanda Carvalho, Helena Peres, Patrícia Gomes
Infective endocarditis (IE) is now rare in developed countries, but its prevalence is higher in elderly patients with prosthetic valves, diabetes, renal impairment, or heart failure. An increase in health-care associated IE (HCAIE) has been observed due to invasive maneuvers (30% of cases). Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Enterococcus are the most common agents in HCAIE, causing high mortality and morbidity. We review complications of IE and its therapy, based on a patient with acute bivalvular left-sided MRSA IE and a prosthetic aortic valve, aggravated by congestive heart failure, stroke, acute immune complex glomerulonephritis, Candida parapsilosis fungémia and death probably due to Serratia marcescens sepsis...
June 2011: Portuguese Journal of Cardiology: An Official Journal of the Portuguese Society of Cardiology