Successful Treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Septicemia Following Total Aortic Valve Replacement

The successful treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa septicemia in a 24-year-old patient by antibiotic therapy, reoperation, and insertion of a new aortic valve prosthesis three weeks after total aortic valve replacement is reported. This patient also presented other interesting features. She had a Hufnagel valve inserted for severe aortic insufficiency in December, 1955; a Teflon subcoronary, tricuspid, cage prosthesis replaced her destroyed aortic valve in April, 1960; and two Starr-Edwards aortic valve prostheses were inserted during September and October, 1963. The patient is clinically well 12 months after her last operation.