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Infective endocarditis (IE) poses a diagnostic challenge due to its diverse clinical presentations, especially among high-risk groups. Diagnosis relies on integrating clinical presentation, blood cultures and imaging findings. Advanced imaging techniques enhance diagnostic accuracy, particularly in complex cases. Treatment involves antimicrobial therapy and surgery in complicated cases, with early intervention crucial for optimal outcomes. Coordinated care by an Endocarditis Team ensures tailored treatment plans, prompt complication management and long-term monitoring after discharge. The authors present a case of subacute IE presenting initially with back pain in a patient with a complex medical history, highlighting diagnostic and management approaches.

Background Several recent small studies have suggested a causal link between Lyme disease and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) by demonstrating the presence of the Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) genome in the myocardium of patients with recent-onset DCM. The aim of this study was to further investigate the effect of targeted antibiotic treatment of Bb -related recent-onset DCM in a larger cohort of patients. Patients and methods We performed endomyocardial biopsy (EMB) in 110 individuals (53 ± 11 years, 34 women) with recent-onset unexplained DCM, and detected the Bb genome in 22 (20 %) subjects. Bb -positive patients were subsequently treated with intravenous ceftriaxone for 21 days in addition to conventional heart failure medication. Results At the 1-year follow-up, a significant improvement in left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (26 ± 6  vs. 44 ± 12 %; p  < 0.01) and a decrease in LV end-diastolic (69 ± 7 vs. 63 ± 11 mm; p  < 0.01) and end-systolic (61 ± 9 vs. 52 ± 4 mm; p  < 0.01) diameters were documented. Moreover, a significant improvement in heart failure symptoms (NYHA class 3.4 ± 0.6 vs. 1.5 ± 0.7; p  < 0.01) was also observed. Conclusion Targeted antibiotic treatment of Bb -related recent-onset DCM in addition to conventional heart failure therapy is associated with favorable cardiac remodeling and improvement of heart failure symptoms.

Despite improvements in medical and surgical therapies, infective endocarditis is associated with poor prognosis and remains a therapeutic challenge. Many factors affect the outcome of this serious disease, including virulence of the microorganism, characteristics of the patients, presence of underlying disease, delays in diagnosis and treatment, surgical indications, and timing of surgery. We review the strengths and limitations of present therapeutic strategies and propose future directions for better management of endocarditis according to the most recent research. Novel perspectives on the management of endocarditis are emerging and offer hope for decreasing the rate of residual deaths by accelerating the process of diagnosis and risk stratification, reducing delays in starting antimicrobial therapy, rapid transfer of high-risk patients to specialised medico-surgical centres, development of new surgical methods, and close long-term follow-up.

We report a case of a 61-year-old man in New York, USA, who had recurrent Aerococcus urinae endocarditis that first involved his native and then his bioprosthetic tricuspid valve. We demonstrate that a complicated A. urinae endocarditis case can be successfully treated with single-agent antimicrobial drug therapy and surgery.

BackgroundOur aim was to compare pediatric infective endocarditis (IE) with the clinical profile and outcomes of IE in adults.MethodsProspective multicenter registry in 31 Spanish hospitals including all patients with a diagnosis of IE from 2008 to 2020.ResultsA total of 5590 patients were included, 49 were <18 years (0.1%). Congenital heart disease (CHD) was present in 31 children and adolescents (63.2%). Right-sided location was more common in children/adolescents than in adults (46.9% vs. 6.3%, P < 0.001). Pediatric pulmonary IE was more frequent in patients with CHD (48.4%) than in those without (5.6%), P = 0.004. Staphylococcus aureus etiology tended to be more common in pediatric patients (32.7%) than in adults (22.3%), P = 0.082. Heart failure was less common in pediatric patients than in adults, due to the lower rate of heart failure in children/adolescents with CHD (9.6%) with respect to those without CHD (44.4%), P = 0.005. Inhospital mortality was high in both children, and adolescents and adults (16.3% vs. 25.9%; P = 0.126).ConclusionsMost IE cases in children and adolescents are seen in patients with CHD that have a more common right-sided location and a lower prevalence of heart failure than patients without CHD. IE in children and adolescents without CHD has a more similar profile to IE in adults.ImpactInfective endocarditis (IE) in children and adolescents is often seen in patients with congenital heart disease (CHD).Right-sided location is the most common in patients with CHD and heart failure is less common as a complication compared with patients without CHD.Infective endocarditis (IE) in children/adolescents without CHD has a more similar profile to IE in adults.In children/adolescents without CHD, locations were similar to adults, including a predominance of left-sided IE.Acute heart failure was the most frequent complication, seen mainly in adults, and in children/adolescents without CHD.

Background Infective endocarditis (IE) is associated with high rates of mortality. Prolonged treatments with high-dose intravenous antibiotics often fail to eradicate the infection, frequently leading to high-risk surgical intervention. By providing a mechanism of antibiotic tolerance, which escapes conventional antibiotic susceptibility profiling, microbial biofilm represents a key diagnostic and therapeutic challenge for clinicians. This study aims at assessing a rapid biofilm identification assay and a targeted antimicrobial susceptibility profile of biofilm-growing bacteria in patients with IE, which were unresponsive to antibiotic therapy. Results Staphylococcus aureus was the most common isolate (50%), followed by Enterococcus faecalis (25%) and Streptococcus gallolyticus (25%). All microbial isolates were found to be capable of producing large, structured biofilms in vitro. As expected, antibiotic treatment either administered on the basis of antibiogram or chosen empirically among those considered first-line antibiotics for IE, including ceftriaxone, daptomycin, tigecycline and vancomycin, was not effective at eradicating biofilm-growing bacteria. Conversely, antimicrobial susceptibility profile of biofilm-growing bacteria indicated that teicoplanin, oxacillin and fusidic acid were most effective against S. aureus biofilm , while ampicillin was the most active against S. gallolyticus and E. faecalis biofilm, respectively. Conclusions This study indicates that biofilm-producing bacteria, from surgically treated IE, display a high tolerance to antibiotics, which is undetected by conventional antibiograms. The rapid identification and antimicrobial tolerance profiling of biofilm-growing bacteria in IE can provide key information for both antimicrobial therapy and prevention strategies.

BackgroundInfective endocarditis (IE) is characterized by high morbidity and mortality rates, despite recent improvements in diagnostics and treatment. We aimed to investigate incidence, clinical characteristics, and in-hospital mortality in a large-scale nationwide cohort.MethodsUsing data from the German Federal Bureau of Statistics, all IE cases in Germany between 2007 and 2019 were analyzed. Logistic regression models were fitted to assess associations between clinical factors and in-hospital mortality.ResultsIn total, 86,469 patients were hospitalized with IE between 2007 and 2019. The mean age was 66.5 ± 14.7 years and 31.8% (n = 27,534/86,469) were female. Cardiovascular (CV) comorbidities were common. The incidence of IE in the German population increased from 6.3/100,000 to 10.2/100,000 between 2007 and 2019. Staphylococcus (n = 17,673/86,469; 20.4%) and streptococcus (n = 17,618/86,469; 20.4%) were the most common IE-causing bacteria. The prevalence of staphylococcus gradually increased over time, whereas blood culture-negative IE (BCNIE) cases decreased. In-hospital mortality in patients with IE was 14.9%. Compared to BCNIE, staphylococcus and Gram-negative pathogens were associated with higher in-hospital mortality. In multivariable analysis, factors associated with higher likelihood of in-hospital mortality were advanced age, female sex, CV comorbidities (e.g., heart failure, COPD, diabetes, stroke), need for dialysis or invasive ventilation, and sepsis.ConclusionsIn this contemporary cohort, incidence of IE increased over time and in-hospital mortality remained high (~ 15%). While staphylococcus and streptococcus were the predominant microorganisms, bacteremia with staphylococcus and Gram-negative pathogens were associated with higher likelihood of in-hospital mortality. Our results highlight the need for new preventive strategies and interventions in patients with IE.

•What is already known:•Much of the previous studies on infective endocarditis(IE) is often based on cohorts from tertiary hospitals or retrospective registry studies, which may not represent the whole IE population, creating a need for nationwide characterization.•What this study adds:•The NIDUS registry is a validated national cohort encompassing all IE cases in Denmark from 2016 to 2021, including 3,557 patients (79.6% classified as definite IE and 20.4% as possible IE).•It provides comprehensive insights into IE demographics, clinical features, comorbidities, and outcomes from a contemporary nationwide cohort: most patients presented with fever (61.1%), followed by dyspnea (33.0%) and myalgias (27.0%). Sepsis was identified in 828 (23.3%) patients, and 378 (10.6%) exhibited signs of embolization at admission.•In the NIDUS registry, in-hospital mortality was 17.3%, 1-year mortality reached 31.3%, 19.4% of the patients underwent surgical treatment during hospitalization, and Staphylococcus aureus was the most common pathogen. Most knowledge on infective endocarditis (IE) comes from large IE cohorts that include patients from tertiary hospitals, leading to referral bias and retrospective population-based studies. This highlights the need for a more detailed characterization of IE in unselected patient cohorts. In the National Danish Endocarditis Studies (NIDUS) registry, all hospitalizations in Denmark from 2016 to 2021 with an IE diagnosis were reviewed and validated using electronic medical records (EMR) by healthcare professionals under the supervision of IE experts. Episodes meeting the European Society of Cardiology 2015 modified diagnostic criteria for possible or definite IE were included. We screened 4390 unique patients, of whom 3557 (81%) were included in the NIDUS registry. Of the 3557 unique patients, 2832 (79.6%) were classified as definite IE and 725 (20.4%) as possible IE. The age was 73.7 years, and most patients were men (68.3%). In total, 689 (19.4%) underwent surgery during hospitalization. The most frequent comorbidities were diabetes (23.7%), heart failure (18.7%), and chronic kidney disease (17.4%). Most patients presented with fever (61.1%), followed by dyspnea (33.0%) and myalgias (27.0%). Sepsis was found in 828 (23.3%) patients, while 378 (10.6%) had signs of embolization at admission. Positive blood cultures were identified in 3191 (89.7%) patients, and the most frequent microbiological etiology was Staphylococcus aureus (31.9%). The in-hospital mortality was 17.3%, and the 1-year mortality rate was 31.3%. The NatIonal Danish endocarditis studies (NIDUS) registry provides comprehensive, granular, and nationwide data on a cohort of patients with infective endocarditis, revealing that when selection is not restricted to tertiary hospitals or voluntary registries, some important differences emerge. Patients with IE are on average older, have a similar burden of comorbidities, and less often undergo surgery. Minimizing selection bias with the use of a national registry provides a clearer picture of IE as it occurs in real-world clinical settings. [Display omitted]

A 22-year-old man from Guatemala sought care for subacute endocarditis and mycotic brain aneurysm after living in good health in the United States for 15 months. Bartonella rochalimae, a recently described human and canine pathogen, was identified by plasma microbial cell-free DNA testing. The source of infection is unknown.

Abstract Background Staphylococcus aureus is a leading cause of bacteremia, yet there remains a significant knowledge gap in the identification of relevant biomarkers that predict clinical outcomes. Heterogeneity in the host response to invasive S. aureus infection suggests that specific biomarker signatures could be utilized to differentiate patients prone to severe disease, thereby facilitating earlier implementation of more aggressive therapies. Methods To further elucidate the inflammatory correlates of poor clinical outcomes in patients with S. aureus bacteremia, we evaluated the association between a panel of blood proteins at initial presentation of bacteremia and disease severity outcomes using 2 cohorts of patients with S. aureus bacteremia (n = 32 and n = 124). Results We identified 13 candidate proteins that were correlated with mortality and persistent bacteremia. Prognostic modeling identified interleukin (IL)-8 and CCL2 as the strongest individual predictors of mortality, with the combination of these biomarkers classifying fatal outcome with 89% sensitivity and 77% specificity (P < .0001). Baseline IL-17A levels were elevated in patients with persistent bacteremia (P < .0001), endovascular (P = .026) and metastatic tissue infections (P = .012). Conclusions These results demonstrate the potential utility of selected biomarkers to distinguish patients with the highest risk for treatment failure and bacteremia-related complications, providing a valuable tool for clinicians in the management of S. aureus bacteremia. Additionally, these biomarkers could identify patients with the greatest potential to benefit from novel therapies in clinical trials. Biomarkers identify S. aureus bacteremia patients at highest risk of treatment failure, with high circulating IL-17A levels at diagnosis prognostic for persistent bacteremia and chronic tissue infection foci while a combination of IL-8 and CCL2 identifies increased mortality risk.