Prosthetic valve diphtheroid endocarditis treated with sodium fusidate and erythromycin.

Seven patients with diphtheroid endocarditis after prosthetic valve replacement are reported. Diphtheroids grown from blood cultures should not be dismissed as contaminants without repeated blood cultures, agglutinin, and L-form studies. Diphtheroid endocarditis may increase in incidence with the wider use of pre-and postoperative antibiotic prophylaxis, and may be the cause of some examples of endocarditis with 'negative' blood cultures. Four patients survived on a regimen of sodium fusidate (Fucidin) and erythromycin.