title: Total Artificial Heart as Bridge to Transplantation for Severe Culture-Negative Prosthetic Valve Endocarditis Due to Gemella haemolysans.
abstract: We report a rare case of a patient with prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE) requiring implantation of a total artificial heart (TAH) as a bridge to heart transplantation. Gemella haemolysans, an unusual cause of PVE, was identified as the organism responsible only by 16s rRNA polymerase chain reaction analysis of surgical tissue samples. We also describe one of the first uses of combined TAH and veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation therapy in the setting of severe respiratory and cardiac failure. Implantation of a TAH may be considered in situations where more traditional reconstructive methods are not feasible.
authors.affiliation: From the *Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington; †Division of Cardiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington; ‡Department of Anesthesiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington; and §Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: Meena S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Ramchandani
authors.forename: Robert M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Rakita
authors.forename: Rosario V
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: Freeman
authors.forename: Wayne C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Von Homeyer
authors.forename: Nahush A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Mokadam
mesh_terms: D004696:Endocarditis / Q000150:complications; D015199:Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation; D005260:Female; D058834:Gemella; D016908:Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / Q000150:complications; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis / Q000382:microbiology*; D006354:Heart, Artificial; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged
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