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CJC Open 2022 Mar 17;4(3):337-339. Epub 2021 Nov 17.

Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

We describe a case of Kounis syndrome, an allergic reaction causing coronary artery vasospasm, triggered by a vancomycin infusion, in a healthy 32-year-old man. The patient initially presented with an inguinal abscess requiring intravenous vancomycin. During his third infusion, he developed typical chest pain that resolved with cessation of the infusion. Read More

G Ital Cardiol (Rome) 2022 Mar;23(3):214-216

Dipartimento di Cardiologia, Presidio Ospedaliero di Gallarate, ASST Valle Olona (VA).

We describe the case of a patient presenting with acute myocardial infarction complicated by cardiogenic shock in the setting of an unknown bioprosthetic aortic valve endocarditis and in absence of obstructive coronary artery disease. Given the angiographic finding, the most likely etiology was external compression by a perivalvular abscess, which was confirmed during autopsy. Although rare, coronary artery compression should be considered in the differential diagnosis of acute coronary syndromes complicating infective endocarditis. Read More

Circ J 2022 Mar 1. Epub 2022 Mar 1.

Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Osaka City General Hospital.

Cureus 2022 Jan 20;14(1):e21441. Epub 2022 Jan 20.

Medicine, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, Porto, PRT.

Hypereosinophilia is a serum eosinophil count of over 1,500 eosinophils/µL. It is an uncommon laboratory finding, and it can be asymptomatic or associated with organ damage, in which case it is referred to as hypereosinophilic syndrome. It can be primary, when the expansion of eosinophils occurs in the setting of a hematological neoplasm, or secondary, when it is caused by an external stimulus, such as a parasitic infection or a solid neoplasm. Read More

Cureus 2022 Jan 16;14(1):e21296. Epub 2022 Jan 16.

Cardiology, Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, Huntington, USA.

Acute ST-segment elevation (STE) on electrocardiogram (EKG) is very frequently associated with myocardial infarction, which requires prompt diagnosis and treatment. However, there are multiple other causes of acute STE, both cardiac and noncardiac. Here we describe a unique case of acute inferior and lateral STE caused by osteomyelitis and abscess of the lower cervical vertebrae. Read More

Cureus 2022 Jan 3;14(1):e20911. Epub 2022 Jan 3.

Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Missouri Kansas City, Kansas City, USA.

Caseous calcification of mitral annulus is a rare variant of mitral annulus calcification that can mimic infective endocarditis, myocardial abscess, valve myxoma, or papillary fibroelastoma. On transthoracic echocardiography, the mass appears as a large, round echodense structure with a large calcification and central echolucency. We present a case of a 72-year-old female with a past medical history significant for diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and end-stage renal disease who was noted to have caseous calcification of the mitral annulus on transthoracic echocardiography, which was done as part of a preoperative kidney transplantation evaluation. Read More

J Inflamm Res 2022 5;15:85-103. Epub 2022 Jan 5.

Molecular Biophysics & Integrated Bioimaging Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA.

Purpose: Heritability ( , the proportion of the phenotypic variance attributable to additive genetic effects) is traditionally assumed to be constant throughout the distribution of the phenotype. However, the heritabilities of circulating C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1), and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) concentrations depend upon whether the phenotype is high or low relative to their distributions (quantile-dependent expressivity), which may account for apparent gene-environment interactions. Whether the heritabilities of other inflammatory biomarkers linked to cardiovascular disease are quantile-dependent remain to be determined. Read More

Eur Heart J Case Rep 2021 Dec 30;5(12):ytab482. Epub 2021 Nov 30.

Department of Cardiology, Fiona Stanley Hospital, 11 Robin Warren Drive, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia.

Background: Despite increasing use of percutaneous coronary intervention and stenting, septic complications such as coronary stent infections are rare. We report a unique case of mitral valve infective endocarditis and associated coronary stent infection which emerged 6 months after index stent insertion.

Case Summary: A 56-year-old previously healthy man underwent percutaneous coronary intervention and stenting of left circumflex (LCx) coronary artery in the setting of non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. Read More

CASE (Phila) 2021 Dec 8;5(6):373-376. Epub 2021 Oct 8.

Fiona Stanley Hospital, Perth, Western Australia.

Am Fam Physician 2021 Nov;104(5):476-483

Denver Health, Denver, CO, USA.

Medical consultations before dental procedures present opportunities to integrate cross-disciplinary preventive care and improve patient health. This article presents recommendations related to patients with certain medical conditions who are planning to undergo common dental procedures, such as cleanings, extractions, restorations, endodontic procedures, abscess drainage, and mucosal biopsies. Specifically, prophylactic antibiotics are not recommended for preventing prosthetic joint infections or infectious endocarditis except in certain circumstances. Read More

Ann Card Anaesth 2021 Oct-Dec;24(4):500-502

Department of Anesthesiology, Zuyderland Medical Centre, Heerlen, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

A 69-year-old patient underwent an urgent aortic valve replacement because of Streptococcus agalactiae endocarditis of his native aortic valve. Since a rapid progression of the former abscess cavity into an aortic root pseudoaneurysm with increasing paravalvular regurgitation during postoperative follow-up, reoperation was performed. In the preoperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) images the pseudoaneurysm completely surrounds the left coronary artery (LCA) without any signs of myocardial ischemia. Read More

Eur Heart J Case Rep 2021 Sep 29;5(9):ytab302. Epub 2021 Jul 29.

Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, School of Human Health Sciences, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi and University of Florence, Largo Brambilla 3, 50134, Florence, Italy.

Background: Coronary artery embolism is an infrequent cause of type 2 myocardial infarction which can be due to arterial thromboembolism or septic embolism. While systemic embolization is one of the most acknowledged and threatened complications of infective endocarditis, coronary localization of the emboli causing acute myocardial infarction is exceedingly rare occurring in <1% of cases.

Case Summary: A 52-year-old man with a history of Bentall procedure and redo aortic valve replacement due to prosthetic degeneration (11 years prior to the current presentation) presented to the emergency department with high-grade fever and myalgias. Read More

Int J Legal Med 2022 Jan 12;136(1):189-192. Epub 2021 Sep 12.

Department of Legal Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Butenfeld 34, 22529, Hamburg, Germany.

This case report highlights details of a case of critical acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) with B1.1.7 variant in a 4-year-old girl who died due to pneumonia and pulmonary hemorrhage. Read More

J Cardiovasc Med (Hagerstown) 2022 03;23(3):185-190

Cardiology Division, University Department of Medical Sciences.

Aims: Unruptured aortic root pseudoaneurysm (UARP) is a rare complication of aortic valve endocarditis. Infectious spread to the valvular annulus or myocardium can cause septic complications that manifest as wall thickening, and spontaneous abscess drainage leads to pseudoaneurysm formation. We report the first patient series in which transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) using a single valve-resolved aortic valvulopathy associated with UARP was performed. Read More

Clin Case Rep 2021 Aug 16;9(8):e04658. Epub 2021 Aug 16.

Department of Internal Medicine Division of Nephrology Haeundae Paik Hospital University of Inje College of Medicine Busan Korea.

Diagnosis of myocardial abscess without endocarditis is challenging, and a high index of clinical suspicion is fundamental for diagnosis. It should never be ruled out before TEE. And CT could be a helpful modality in case of emphysematous morphology. Read More

BMJ Case Rep 2021 Aug 5;14(8). Epub 2021 Aug 5.

Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery, Bankstown Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

A 73-year-old woman presented with fever and right flank pain. The admission was complicated by sepsis, myocardial ischaemia and an upper gastrointestinal bleed. A gastroscopy eventually demonstrated a large antral adenocarcinoma. Read More

JACC Case Rep 2020 Sep 29;2(11):1667-1670. Epub 2020 Jul 29.

Clinical and Interventional Unit, Sant'Ambrogio Cardio-Thoracic Center, Milan, Italy.

Mycotic coronary aneurysm and pseudoaneurysm are rare infective complications of percutaneous coronary interventions, associated with poor prognosis. Multimodality imaging is recommended to achieve a correct diagnosis. We present a case of post-stenting mycotic coronary pseudoaneurysm complicated by myocardial abscess in which we used different imaging tools, each carrying additional information. Read More

Cureus 2021 Jun 10;13(6):e15559. Epub 2021 Jun 10.

Hepatology, Asian Institute of Gastroenterology, Hyderabad, IND.

Point-of-care ultrasonography (POCUS) helps determine liver-related pathologies like an abscess, portal vein or hepatic vein thromboses, presence of ascites, site for pleural or ascitic paracentesis, and guiding biopsies. POCUS is revolutionizing the management of critically ill patients presenting with pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, acute-on-chronic liver failure, and in the emergency. The objectives of thoracic ultrasonography (TUS) are to aid the clinician in differentiating between pneumonia, effusions, interstitial edema and collections, and in estimating the volume status of patients with liver disease using inferior vena cava dynamic indices. Read More

Ann Card Anaesth 2021 Jul-Sep;24(3):411-414

Department of Cardiac Anaesthesia, Fortis Escorts Hospital, Malviya Nagar, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.

Myocardial abscess is a suppurative infection of myocardium, endocardium, native or prosthetic valves, perivalvular structures and cardiac conduction system. It develops in about 20% of patients with infective endocarditis. Due to avascular and fibrous structures, valvular regions are commonly involved. Read More

Infection 2021 Oct 12;49(5):1017-1027. Epub 2021 Jul 12.

Division of Spine Surgery, Department of Trauma and Orthopedic Surgery, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany.

Purpose: This study sought to recognize differences in clinical disease manifestations of spondylodiscitis depending on the causative bacterial species.

Methods: We performed an evaluation of all spondylodiscitis cases in our clinic from 2013-2018. 211 patients were included, in whom a causative bacterial pathogen was identified in 80. Read More

Cureus 2021 May 26;13(5):e15262. Epub 2021 May 26.

Cardiology, St. Mary Medical Center, Langhorne, USA.

Shock caused by an aortic root abscess is a rare phenomenon. Due to its rarity, it is commonly not diagnosed on time to have a favorable prognosis for the patient. Our case involves an 80-year-old male presenting with leukocytosis, lactic acidosis, and hypoglycemia. Read More

J Pediatr Hematol Oncol 2021 08;43(6):226-227

Paediatric Oncology and Hematology, Montpellier University Hospital, Montpellier, France.

Aspergillosis infection is a major complication of acquired immunosuppression, and is associated with poor prognosis in its invasive form. Cardiac dissemination of invasive aspergillosis is a rare and usually fatal consequence of systemic mycosis. We describe a pediatric case of myocardial aspergillosis abscess in a 12-year-old girl diagnosed with multimodality cardiac imaging approach. Read More

Cardiovasc J Afr 2021 Jul-Aug 23;32(4):224-227. Epub 2021 May 7.

Echocardiography and Vascular Ultrasound Center, the First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. Email:

Caseous calcification of the mitral annulus (CCMA) is a rare subtype of mitral annular calcification. It usually appears as a large, round, mass-like calcification with an echolucent core, which may be misdiagnosed as an intracardiac mass, cyst, thrombus or abscess of the mitral valve. We present a case report of CCMA that was misdiagnosed by echocardiography as a benign tumour due to its atypical imaging. Read More

Br J Radiol 2021 Jul 26;94(1123):20200695. Epub 2021 May 26.

Department of imaging sciences and interventional radiology, Sreechitra institute of medical sciences and technology, Trivandrum - 695011, Kerala, India.

Pulmonary arteriovenous malformations (PAVM) are abnormal communication of a branch of the pulmonary artery and pulmonary vein circumventing the intervening pulmonary capillaries. This results in a right-to-left (R-L) shunt and its related manifestations, which include hampered gas exchange leading to hypoxaemia, dyspnoea, paradoxical emboli leading to stroke, cerebral abscess, myocardial infarction and pulmonary haemorrhage due to rupture of the PAVM. Endovascular transcatheter embolization of the feeding vessels with coils or occlusion devices is the current standard care of treatment and preferred treatment modality. Read More

Ann Thorac Surg 2022 02 8;113(2):535-543. Epub 2021 Apr 8.

Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery Heart, Vascular, and Thoracic Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio. Electronic address:

Background: Advanced aortic valve infective endocarditis (IE) with progression and destruction beyond the valve cusps-invasive IE-is incompletely characterized. This study aimed to characterize further the invasive disease extent, location, and stage and correlate macroscopic operative findings with microscopic disease patterns and progression.

Methods: A total of 43 patients with invasive aortic valve IE were prospectively enrolled from August 2017 to July 2018. Read More

Turk Kardiyol Dern Ars 2021 03;49(2):173-174

Second Cardiology Department, Hippokration Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece.

Eur Heart J Case Rep 2021 Jan 28;5(1):ytaa483. Epub 2020 Dec 28.

Cardiology Department, East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, Kings Drive, Eastbourne, East Sussex BN21 2UD, UK.

Background: Extrinsic coronary compression is an extremely rare complication of aortic root abscess formation and can manifest as an acute coronary syndrome in infective endocarditis. Optimal management strategies are unknown and therefore illustrative case reports may be informative.

Case Summary: We describe a 63-year-old man with a background history of a mechanical aortic valve who developed sepsis due to bacteraemia from a presumed urinary source. Read More

Int J Cardiol Heart Vasc 2021 Feb 12;32:100711. Epub 2021 Jan 12.

Cardiology Division, Policlinico di Modena, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Modena, Largo del Pozzo, 71, 41125 Modena, Italy.

Int J Surg Case Rep 2021 Feb 16;79:215-218. Epub 2021 Jan 16.

General Surgery Department, Santissimo Salvatore Hospital (ASP Catania), Paternò, Catania, Italy.

Introduction And Importance: Amyand hernia is a rare disease seen in approximatively 1% of all hernias, complications of it, like acute appendicitis, or perforated appendicitis are even more rare, about 0.1%. Its diagnosis is very difficult in the preoperative period: it is usually an incidental finding. Read More

Eur Heart J Case Rep 2020 Oct 4;4(5):1-8. Epub 2020 Sep 4.

Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Blegdamsvej 9, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.

Background: Coronary artery ostial stenosis is a rare but well-known complication to aortic root replacement. The occurrence of this complication in patients with the Medtronic Freestyle bioprosthesis is poorly described. We report a case of late bilateral coronary ostial stenosis due to pseudointimal membranes within a Medtronic Freestyle bioprosthesis, resulting in acute coronary syndrome. Read More