Francisella tularensis endocarditis is rare and difficult to diagnose, and only a few cases have been described. We report two new cases of endocarditis due to F. tularensis subsp. holarctica, with a favorable evolution after appropriate antibiotic therapy and valve replacement surgery, and review the 5 other cases reported in the literature. This rare infection may be suspected based on the local epidemiology and the patient\'s exposure factors. A regimen of ciprofloxacin and gentamicin, combined with surgical valve replacement if necessary, appears to be effective in treating F. tularensis endocarditis.

UNASSIGNED: Paravalvular leak (PVL) is a serious complication of prosthetic valve replacement. Both surgical and percutaneous closure techniques are used for PVL closure, but optimal strategies and comparative outcomes are uncertain. This study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of percutaneous versus surgical PVL closure by analyzing changes in leak severity, functional status, echocardiographic parameters, and clinical outcomes.
UNASSIGNED: A total of 72 patients were included in this retrospective cross-sectional single-center study comparing percutaneous (n = 25) and surgical (n = 47) PVL closure from 2015 to 2022. Demographics, medical history, echocardiograms, laboratory data, complications, and mortality data were extracted from the records. Changes in leak severity, NYHA class, echocardiographic parameters, and clinical outcomes were compared between the percutaneous and surgical groups.
UNASSIGNED: Both percutaneous and surgical PVL closure significantly reduced leak severity and improved NYHA class (both p < 0.01), with no difference between the quantity of changes in each group. The 30-day mortality was 4% after percutaneous and 6.4% after surgical closure (p = 0.65). At 90 days, mortality was 24% percutaneous versus 17% surgical (p = 0.48). The length of stay in the hospital and post-procedural decrease in hemoglobin were considerably lower in the percutaneous group. The rate of complication rates was similar between the groups. Echocardiographic changes were also comparable.
UNASSIGNED: Percutaneous and surgical PVL closure had similar efficacy in reducing leaks and improving symptoms, with no significant difference in early outcomes. Both options should be considered viable for PVL repair after heart team evaluation.

OBJECTIVE: Patients with bicuspid aortic valves (BAV) are at increased risk of infective endocarditis (IE). Information of the clinical presentation and the microbiology of BAV-associated IE, however, is limited. Therefore, our study aimed to characterise the clinical features native valve endocarditis (NVE) in the setting of BAV and compared them to patients with prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE) following BAV replacement.
METHODS: Adult patients with BAV or history of BAV with aortic valve replacement (AVR) and a definite or possible IE diagnosis within the Mayo Clinic Enterprise (USA) from January 2008 to December 2021, were included. BAV was confirmed by trans-oesophageal echocardiography. IE was defined according to the modified Duke criteria and only an initial episode was included. Statistical analyses were performed to compare clinical characteristics, microbiology, and IE complications.
RESULTS: Overall, 161 patients with BAV and IE (NVE [n=60], 37.3%) and PVE [n=101, 62.7%) were included. Mean age±SD was 56.5±16.1 years, and 139 (86.3%) patients were males. PVE patients were older (p<0.01) and had a higher rate of hypertension (p<0.01), chronic heart failure (p<0.01), chronic kidney disease (p<0.01), and perivalvular abscess (p<0.01). BAV patients with NVE had a higher prevalence of isolated mitral valve IE (p<0.01), moderate to severe aortic valve regurgitation (p<0.01) and combined aortic with mitral valve IE (p<0.01). Streptococcus mitis was the most common pathogen in NVE (30.0%) while Staphylococcus aureus was the most common in PVE (15.8%).
CONCLUSIONS: Patients with BAV are at risk of both NVE and PVE. Each syndrome has unique clinical features, including microbiologic findings, that should be appreciated in IE diagnosis and management.

Infective endocarditis (IE) is a rare but severe disease due to frequent and serious complications. Healthcare-associated cases often involve Staphylococcus aureus, while Gram-negative bacteria such as Klebsiella pneumoniae, though rare, pose severe challenges due to their resistance profiles. We report a case of a 68-year-old woman with a history of hypertension and mitral valve replacement 12 years ago, who was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) for management of non-traumatic, afebrile altered mental status due to intracerebral hemorrhage from anticoagulant overdose. His stay in the ICU revealed septic shock with multi-organ failure caused by carbapenemase (New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase (NDM))-producing K. pneumoniae complicated by IE on the prosthetic mitral valve. Despite treatment with meropenem, colistin, and tigecycline, the patient succumbed to septic shock after 15 days of therapy. This case highlights the importance of close surveillance of nosocomial infections and the need for prompt management strategies integrating medical and surgical approaches to reduce the high mortality associated with such infections.

Background: Destructive aortic prosthetic valve endocarditis portends a high morbidity and mortality, and requires complex high-risk surgery. Homograft root replacement is the most radical and biocompatible operation and, thus, the preferred option. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 61 consecutive patients who underwent a cardiac reoperation comprising homograft aortic root replacement since 2010. The probabilities of survival were calculated with the Kaplan-Meier method, whereas multivariable regression served to outline the predictors of adverse events. The endpoints were operative/late death, perioperative low cardiac output and renal failure, and reoperations. Results: The operative (cumulative hospital and 30-day) mortality was 13%. The baseline aspartate transaminase (AST) and associated mitral procedures were predictive of operative death (p = 0.048, OR [95% CIs] = 1.03 [1-1.06]) and perioperative low cardiac output, respectively (p = 0.04, OR [95% CIs] = 21.3 [2.7-168.9] for valve replacement). The latter occurred in 12 (20%) patients, despite a normal ejection fraction. Survival estimates (±SE) at 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, and 3 years after surgery were 86.3 ± 4.7%, 82.0 ± 4.9%, 75.2 ± 5.6, and 70.0 ± 6.3%, respectively. Survival was significantly lower in the case of AST ≥ 40 IU/L (p = 0.04) and aortic cross-clamp time ≥ 180 min (p = 0.01), but not when excluding operative survivors. Five patients required early (two out of the five, within 3 months) or late (three out of the five) reoperation. Conclusions: Homograft aortic root replacement for destructive prosthetic valve endocarditis can currently be performed with a near 90% operative survival and reasonable 3-year mortality and reoperation rate. AST might serve to additionally stratify the operative risk.

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UNASSIGNED: Infective endocarditis caused by Streptococcus sinensis is exceedingly rare, with only limited cases reported. Here, we present the first documented case of prosthetic valve endocarditis attributed to Streptococcus sinensis.
UNASSIGNED: A 40-year-old Chinese female was admitted with a 45-day history of intermittent fever. The presumed diagnosis was a pulmonary infection and antibiotic therapies failed to alleviate her symptoms. On admission, infective endocarditis was suspected, considering the history of aortic valve replacement and recent dental procedure without prophylactic antibiotics. Transesophageal echocardiography disclosed a 3-millimeter vegetation in the prosthetic aortic valve, and metagenomic next-generation sequencing and mass spectrometry identified Streptococcus sinensis. The patient was diagnosed with infective endocarditis. Antibiotic treatments resulted in temporary clinical improvements, although fluctuations in temperature and inflammatory markers led to multiple attempts at antibiotic therapies. At last, the patient underwent an elective aortic valve replacement with a favorable prognosis.
UNASSIGNED: In this case, we demonstrated prosthetic valve endocarditis caused by Streptococcus sinensis, which is an extremely rare pathogen. All reported endocarditis cases caused by Streptococcus sinensis were reviewed and summarized. Most of these patients had rheumatic heart diseases or congenital heart diseases. Antibiotic prophylaxis is important for high-risk procedures. Timely identification of the bacterium is crucial for diagnosis and treatment. Overall, infective endocarditis caused by this bacterium had a good prognosis.

Lactococcus garviae (L. garviae) is a gram-positive coccus belonging to the Streptococcaceae family. While primarily a pathogen in fish farms causing hemorrhagic sepsis, it can act as a rare opportunistic pathogen in humans. A 2021 case report by Bravo et al. documented less than 30 cases of infective endocarditis caused by L. garviae worldwide at that time [1]. This case report describes the 27th documented case globally and 7th documented case in the USA of L. garviae causing infective endocarditis of a prosthetic valve [1]. L. garviae is found in unpasteurized dairy products, raw fish, and meat (pork, beef, and poultry), but the route of human transmission remains unclear [3]. It seems to have a predilection for individuals with prosthetic valves, immunocompromised states, prior gastrointestinal surgery, gastrointestinal disorders (colon polyps and diverticulosis), and the use of acid-reducing medications [1-3]. Infective endocarditis is the most common systemic disease caused by L. garviae [1-4]. This report details the case of a 75-year-old male, with multiple comorbidities and risk factors for L. garviae infection who was admitted for \"symptomatic anemia\". High clinical suspicion, coupled with an inadequate hemoglobin response to transfusion, a normal anemia workup, and blood cultures positive for L. garviae, promoted a transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE). However, the results were negative. Consequently, an 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography scan (18FDG PET/CT) was performed. The scan revealed increased uptake in the aortic valve replacement consistent with prosthetic valve endocarditis in the setting of Lactococcus garviae bacteremia.

Postoperative cardiovascular complications (either in a hospital or within 30 days after the operation) are among the most common problems with non-cardiac surgeries (NCSs). Pre-existing cardiac comorbidities add significant risk to the development of such complications. Valvular heart disease (VHD), a rather frequent cardiac comorbidity (especially in the elderly population), can pose serious life-threatening peri-/postoperative complications. Being familiar with the recommended perioperative management of patients with VHD or an implanted prosthetic heart valve who are scheduled for NCS is of great importance in daily clinical practice. Although recently published guidelines by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) for the management of VHD and perioperative management of patients undergoing NCS addresses the mentioned problem, a comprehensive review of the guidelines that provides an easy-to-use summary of the recommendations and their similarities and differences is missing in the published literature. In this review article, we summarize all of the relevant important information based on the latest data published in both guidelines needed for practical decision-making in the perioperative management of patients with VHD or after valvular repair (with prosthetic heart valve) who are scheduled for NCS.

BACKGROUND: The landscape of Pseudomonas infective endocarditis (IE) is evolving with the widespread use of cardiac implantable devices and hospital-acquired infections. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the emerging risk factors and outcomes in Pseudomonas IE.
METHODS: A literature search was performed in major electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar) with appropriate keywords and combinations till November 2023. We recorded data for risk factors, diagnostic and treatment modalities. This study is registered with PROSPERO, CRD42023442807.
RESULTS: A total of 218 cases (131 articles) were included. Intravenous drug use (IDUs) and prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE) were major risk factors for IE (37.6% and 22%). However, the prosthetic valve was the predominant risk factor in the last two decades (23.5%). Paravalvular complications (paravalvular leak, abscess, or pseudoaneurysm) were described in 40 cases (18%), and the vast majority belonged to the aortic valve (70%). The mean time from symptom onset to presentation was 14 days. The incidence of difficult-to-treat resistant (DTR) pseudomonas was 7.4%. Valve replacement was performed in 57.3% of cases. Combination antibiotics were used in most cases (77%), with the aminoglycosides-based combination being the most frequently used (66%). The overall mortality rate was 26.1%. The recurrence rate was 11.2%. Almost half of these patients were IDUs (47%), and most had aortic valve endocarditis (76%).
CONCLUSIONS: This review highlights the changing epidemiology of Pseudomonas endocarditis with the emergence of prosthetic valve infections. Acute presentation and associated high mortality are characteristic of Pseudomonas IE and require aggressive diagnostic and therapeutic approach.