TY - JOUR
T1 - Infective endocarditis following percutaneous pulmonary valve replacement
T2 - Diagnostic challenges and application of intra-cardiac echocardiography
AU - Cheung, Gary
AU - Vejlstrup, Niels
AU - Ihlemann, Nikolaj
AU - Arnous, Samer
AU - Franzen, Olaf
AU - Bundgaard, Henning
AU - Søndergaard, Lars
PY - 2013/11/30
Y1 - 2013/11/30
N2 - Background Infective endocarditis (IE) following percutaneous pulmonary valve replacement (PPVR) with the Melody valve is rarely reported. Furthermore, there are challenges in this diagnosis; especially echocardiographic evidence of vegetation within the prosthesis may be difficult. Method and result This study is a retrospective review of all patients with Melody valve implantation in a tertiary centre. Between November 2006 and November 2012, 43 procedures were performed in 42 patients (mean age 25 years, 6-67 years). At a median follow-up of 27 months (2-66 months), six patients were suspected for IE. However, repeated transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) showed no evidence of IE and the patients were diagnosed as possible cases according to the modified Duke's criteria. Two patients did not respond to antibiotic treatment and underwent intra-cardiac echocardiography (ICE), which clearly demonstrated vegetations. These two cases required surgical explantation, while the other four patients were treated medically without complications. Conclusion IE after Melody valve implantation is uncommon, but difficult to verify since TTE and TEE often cannot demonstrate vegetations inside the stent. ICE should be considered in suspected cases of IE following PPVR with negative TTE and TEE examinations in order to early tailor the best treatment for the individual patient suspected for IE.
AB - Background Infective endocarditis (IE) following percutaneous pulmonary valve replacement (PPVR) with the Melody valve is rarely reported. Furthermore, there are challenges in this diagnosis; especially echocardiographic evidence of vegetation within the prosthesis may be difficult. Method and result This study is a retrospective review of all patients with Melody valve implantation in a tertiary centre. Between November 2006 and November 2012, 43 procedures were performed in 42 patients (mean age 25 years, 6-67 years). At a median follow-up of 27 months (2-66 months), six patients were suspected for IE. However, repeated transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) showed no evidence of IE and the patients were diagnosed as possible cases according to the modified Duke's criteria. Two patients did not respond to antibiotic treatment and underwent intra-cardiac echocardiography (ICE), which clearly demonstrated vegetations. These two cases required surgical explantation, while the other four patients were treated medically without complications. Conclusion IE after Melody valve implantation is uncommon, but difficult to verify since TTE and TEE often cannot demonstrate vegetations inside the stent. ICE should be considered in suspected cases of IE following PPVR with negative TTE and TEE examinations in order to early tailor the best treatment for the individual patient suspected for IE.
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijcard.2013.10.016
DO - 10.1016/j.ijcard.2013.10.016
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 24182680
SN - 0167-5273
VL - 169
SP - 425
EP - 429
JO - International Journal of Cardiology
JF - International Journal of Cardiology
IS - 6
ER -