Aortic valve infective endocarditis: could multi-detector CT scan be proposed for routine screening of concomitant coronary artery disease before surgery?
Usefulness of the coronary artery study has been questioned in patients with infective valve endocarditis. Fatal events are reported in the literature due to embolization of endocarditic vegetations during cardiac catheterization. For this reason, many authors do not recommend preoperative invasive coronary studies in these patients. We report the case of a 56-year-old patient with prosthetic valve endocarditis with vegetations, and concomitant risk factors for coronary disease. We did preoperative coronary screening using multi-detector computed tomographic scan imaging, which may be useful for noninvasive imaging of the coronary arteries in these patients with high risk of embolization.
Lentini
Salvatore
S
Cardiac Surgery Unit, Policlinic Hospital, University of Messina, Messina, Italy. salvolentini@alice.it
Monaco
Francesco
F
Tancredi
Fabrizio
F
Savasta
Marcello
M
Gaeta
Roberto
R
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001794:Blood Pressure; D017023:Coronary Angiography / Q000379:methods; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D004487:Edema / Q000209:etiology; D004696:Endocarditis / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D004697:Endocarditis, Bacterial / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D019918:Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011300:Preoperative Care; D016459:Prosthesis-Related Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000503:physiopathology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents