Enterococcus faecalis infective endocarditis: focus on clinical aspects.

Abstract

Enterococcus faecalis infective endocarditis (IE) is a disease of increasing importance, with more patients infected, increasing frequency of health-care associated infections and increasing incidence of antimicrobial resistances. The typical clinical presentation is a subacute course with fever, malaise and generalized aches, difficult to distinguish from other more common diseases. Of paramount importance is transthoracic- and transesophageal-echocardiography to establish the diagnosis. At the moment, the predominant strategies recommend ampicillin in combination with either gentamicin or ceftriaxone. E. faecalis infective endocarditis continues to be a very serious disease with considerable percentages of high-level gentamicin resistant strains and in-hospital mortality around 20%. Strategies to prevent E. faecalis IE, improve diagnostics, optimize treatment and reduce morbidity will be necessary to improve the overall prognosis.

• Authors: Anders Dahl, Niels Eske Bruun
• Journal: Expert review of cardiovascular therapy (Expert Rev Cardiovasc Ther) Vol. 11 Issue 9 Pg. 1247-57 (Sep 2013) ISSN: 1744-8344 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 24073680 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)

Chemical References

• Anti-Bacterial Agents
• Ceftriaxone
• Ampicillin

Topics

• Ampicillin (therapeutic use)
• Anti-Bacterial Agents (therapeutic use)
• Ceftriaxone (therapeutic use)
• Drug Therapy, Combination (methods)
• Endocarditis, Bacterial (drug therapy, epidemiology, microbiology)
• Enterococcus faecalis (isolation & purification)
• Humans