Characteristics of the patients: clinical features and molecular diagnosis
| Case | Age/sex | Duke classification* | Particular features† | Affected valve | Indication for surgery‡ | PCR | Identity§ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *From reference 10. | |||||||
| †PVE, prosthetic valve endocarditis; early PVE, < 2 months after surgery; late PVE, > 2 months after surgery. Definitions from reference 1. | |||||||
| ‡Indication (class). Class I: there is evidence or general agreement that surgery is useful and effective. Class II: there is conflicting evidence and/or divergence of opinion about the usefulness/efficacy of surgery; IIa, the weight of evidence/opinion is in favour of usefulness/efficacy; IIb, usefulness/efficacy is less well established by evidence/opinion. Class III: there is evidence or general agreement that surgery is not useful and in some cases may be harmful. From reference 17. | |||||||
| §Non-defined: identity of the pathogen not stated; (–): not performed. | |||||||
| IE, infective endocarditis; PCR, polymerase chain reaction; UNB, universal bacterial system; UNF, universal fungal system. | |||||||
| 1 | 72/F | Possible IE | Late PVE | Mitral prosthetic | Paravalvar leak (I); vegetation (IIb) | UNF+ | Candida species |
| 2 | 43/M | Possible IE | None | Aortic | Valve dysfunction and persistent infection (I); mobile vegetation >10 mm (IIb) | UNB+ | Non-defined |
| 3 | 51/M | Possible IE | Kidney transplant | Aortic | Acute regurgitation with heart failure (I); mobile vegetation >10 mm (IIb) | UNF+ | Aspergillus species |
| 4 | 68/M | Possible IE | None | Aortic | Valve dysfunction and persistent infection (I) | UNB+ | Tropheryma whipelii |
| 5 | 62/M | Possible IE | None | Aortic/mitral | Valve dysfunction and persistent infection (I); mobile vegetation >10 mm (IIb) | UNB+ | Staphylococcus epidermidis |
| 6 | 52/M | Possible IE | Early PVE | Mitral prosthetic | Early PVE (I); heart failure with prosthetic valve dysfunction (I) | UNB+ | Streptococcus species |
| 7 | 35/M | Possible IE | Borrelia specific antibodies | Aortic | Valve dysfunction and persistent infection (I) | UNB+ | Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato |
| 8 | 74/F | Possible IE | Early PVE | Mitral prosthetic | Early PVE (I) | Negative | – |
| 9 | 71/M | Possible IE | Late PVE | Aortic prosthetic | Heart failure with prosthetic valve dysfunction (I) | UNB+ | Non-defined |
| 10 | 57/M | Definite IE | None | Aortic | Valve dysfunction and persistent infection (I) | UNB+ | Enterobacter species |
| 11 | 34/M | Definite IE | Recurrent PVE, aortic graft | Aortic prosthetic | Heart failure and prosthetic valve dysfunction (I) | UNF+ | Aspergillus species |
| 12 | 37/F | Possible IE | None | Aortic | Annular abscess (I) | UNB+ | Non-defined |
| 13 | 32/F | Possible IE | None | Aortic/mitral | Acute regurgitation with heart failure (I) | UNB+ | Streptococcus species |
| 14 | 29/F | Definite IE | None | Mitral | Acute regurgitation with heart failure (I); mobile vegetation >10 mm (IIb) | UNB+ | S aureus |
| 15 | 45/M | Possible IE | None | Aortic | Acute regurgitation with heart failure (I) | UNB+ | Streptococcus species |