Brucella endocarditis: a report from Iran.
Endocarditis is a rare focal complication of brucellosis but the most common cause of mortality. The diagnosis of the complications of endemic diseases is therefore important. We evaluated Brucella endocarditis cases in a teaching hospital in Iran between April 1998 and March 2006. Nine patients with a median age of 38.11 years were recorded, of whom seven (77.7%) were male. Underlying cardiopathy was present in three patients (33.3%). The median duration of the symptoms prior to diagnosis was 5.33 months. Endocarditis involved the aortic valve in six cases (66.6%), the mitral valve in two cases (22.2%) and the aortic valve plus the mitral valve in one case (11.1%). Serologic tests were positive in eight (88.8%) and blood culture was positive in two (22.2%). Aortic valve replacement surgery was undertaken for five patients (55.5%). One patient died due to arrhythmia. A high degree of suspicion is therefore necessary in order to ameliorate the course of Brucella endocarditis.
Department of Infectious Diseases, Tehran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran. esmilpour@sina.tums.ac.ir
Negin
N
Esmailpour
Sima
S
Borna
Mehrnaz Rasooli
MR
Nejad
Sina Moradmand
SM
Badie
Banafsheh Moradmand
BM
Badie
Azar
A
Hadadi
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001021:Aortic Valve / Q000382:microbiology / Q000601:surgery; D002002:Brucella / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002006:Brucellosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D004697:Endocarditis, Bacterial / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006349:Heart Valve Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000601:surgery; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008943:Mitral Valve / Q000382:microbiology; D055815:Young Adult
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents