Why the study?
What clinical criteria differentiate sustained bacteremia with versus without proved infection in patients with prosthetic cardiac valves?
Population
22 patients with prosthetic heart valves experiencing 24 episodes of sustained bacteremia
Design
Cohort
Authors
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These features may warrant heightened suspicion for prosthetic valve infection; leaves open prospective validation of diagnostic thresholds.
What clinical criteria differentiate sustained bacteremia with versus without proved infection in patients with prosthetic cardiac valves?
In patients with prosthetic valves and sustained bacteremia, late onset, gram-positive organisms, lack of an obvious source, and new murmurs strongly suggest prosthetic valve infection, which carries a very high mortality rate.
Sande et al. (1972) studied this question.
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