An alternative surgical approach for aortic infective endocarditis: vegetectomy

Abstract

We describe a case of successful vegetectomy of the aortic valves for early infective endocarditis. An aortic vegetectomy was performed as an alternative to valve replacement for a 54-year-old man with three vegetations and mild regurgitation in aortic valve due to infective endocarditis. Postoperative clinical course was without signs of recurrent infection after follow-up of 19 months, and transesophageal echocardiography demonstrated aortic valve competence. We would suggest that vegetectomy with valve sparing may be a viable option in the context of early infective endocarditis involved aortic valve in selected patients.

Lead‐related infective endocarditis with vegetations: Prevalence and impact of pulmonary embolism in patients undergoing transvenous lead extraction

“… 17 Thrombolytics have also been used to reduce vegetation size in patients with CIED‐associated infective endocarditis. 18 A growing body of literature indicates that patients with large vegetations who have historically been referred for surgical lead extraction can be treated less invasively with the hybrid surgical approach, 19 , 20 but also using TLE techniques. 21 , 22 In this study, the percutaneous lead extraction in 25 patients with significant vegetations (median diameter 17.5 mm; IQR: 11.5–29.0) was safe and feasible.…”

Valve repair treatment in active infective endocarditis

“…We read with interest the recent paper of Chen and coworkers [1]. We congratulate the authors for their successful treatment.…”

The importance of methodological rigour in quality-of-life studies

“…Previously, we also found that the QOL in adults with congenital heart disease is good, and sometimes even better than that of healthy counterparts [2,3]. However, when QOL is measured in terms of functional status, as was done in the Loup study, the scores of patient groups are mostly lower than those of normative groups [4].…”