Thoracentesis to alleviate pleural effusion in acute heart failure: study protocol for the multicentre, open-label, randomised controlled TAP-IT trial.

Introduction: Pleural effusion is present in half of the patients hospitalised with acute heart failure. The condition is treated with diuretics and/or therapeutic thoracentesis for larger effusions. No evidence from randomised trials or guidelines supports thoracentesis to alleviate pleural effusion due to acute heart failure.

Rheumatoid arthritis mimicking infective endocarditis with severe aortic regurgitation and aortic root abscess: a case report.

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) may involve the cardiovascular system and can cause significant structural cardiac disease. RA mimicking infective endocarditis (IE) is rarely reported.

Case Summary: A 46-year-old man with a medical history of seropositive RA attended a planned outpatient visit for infliximab treatment.

Evaluation of tools to assess psychological distress: how to measure psychological stress reactions in citizen responders- a systematic review.

Background: Dispatched citizen responders are increasingly involved in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) resuscitation which can lead to severe stress. It is unknown which psychological assessment tools are most appropriate to evaluate psychological distress in this population. The aim of this systematic review was to identify and evaluate existing assessment tools used to measure psychological distress with emphasis on citizen responders who attempted resuscitation.

Whole-genome sequencing of bloodstream Staphylococcus aureus isolates does not distinguish bacteraemia from endocarditis.

Most Staphylococcus aureus isolates can cause invasive disease given the right circumstances, but it is unknown if some isolates are more likely to cause severe infections than others. S. aureus bloodstream isolates from 120 patients with definite infective endocarditis and 121 with S.

Enterococcus faecalis infective endocarditis: a pilot study of the relationship between duration of gentamicin treatment and outcome.

Background: Because of the nephrotoxic effects of aminoglycosides, the Danish guidelines on infective endocarditis were changed in January 2007, reducing gentamicin treatment in enterococcal infective endocarditis from 4 to 6 weeks to only 2 weeks. In this pilot study, we compare outcomes in patients with Enterococcus faecalis infective endocarditis treated in the years before and after endorsement of these new recommendations.

Methods And Results: A total of 84 consecutive patients admitted with definite left-sided E faecalis endocarditis in the period of 2002 to 2011 were enrolled.

The relationship between cerebrovascular complications and previously established use of antiplatelet therapy in left-sided infective endocarditis.

Background: Cerebrovascular complications (CVC) in infective endocarditis (IE) are common. The only established treatments to reduce the incidence of CVC in IE are antibiotics and in selected cases early cardiac surgery. Potential effects of previously established antiplatelet therapy are under debate.

Prevalence of infective endocarditis in patients with Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia: the value of screening with echocardiography.

Aims: Staphylococcus aureus infective endocarditis (IE) is a critical medical condition associated with a high morbidity and mortality. In the present study, we prospectively evaluated the importance of screening with echocardiography in an unselected S. aureus bacteraemia (SAB) population.

Future challenges and treatment of Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia with emphasis on MRSA.

Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) is an urgent medical problem due to its growing frequency and its poor associated outcome. As healthcare delivery increasingly involves invasive procedures and implantable devices, the number of patients at risk for SAB and its complications is likely to grow. Compounding this problem is the growing prevalence of methicillin-resistant S.

The impact of cardiac surgery in native valve infective endocarditis: can euroSCORE guide patient selection?

Background: Decision making regarding surgical intervention in native valve endocarditis (NVE) is often complex and surgery is withheld in a number of patients either because medical treatment is considered the best treatment or because the risk of operation is considered too high. The objective of this study was to investigate the outcome of surgical treatment and to validate the ability of euroSCORE to predict operative mortality in NVE patients.

Methods: Prospective cohort study including 323 consecutive NVE patients.

Major cerebral events in Staphylococcus aureus infective endocarditis: is anticoagulant therapy safe?

Objectives: To study the impact of anticoagulation on major cerebral events in patients with left-sided Staphylococcus aureus infective endocarditis (IE).

Methods: A prospective cohort study; the use of anticoagulation and the relation to major cerebral events was evaluated separately at onset of admission and during hospitalization.

Results: Overall, 70 out of 175 patients (40%; 95% CI: 33-47%) experienced major cerebral events during the course of the disease, cerebral ischaemic stroke occured in 59 patients (34%; 95% CI: 27-41%), cerebral infection in 23 patients (14%; 95% CI: 9-19%), and cerebral haemorrhage in 5 patients (3%; 95% CI: 0.

One-year mortality in coagulase-negative Staphylococcus and Staphylococcus aureus infective endocarditis.

The aim of this study was to investigate in-hospital mortality and 12-month mortality in patients with coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CoNS) compared to Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) infective endocarditis (IE). We used a prospective cohort study of 66 consecutive CoNS and 170 S.

[Streptococcus pneumoniae endocarditis diagnosed with polymerase chain reaction].

A 60-year old man was admitted with sepsis and meningitis of unknown aetiology. Underlying aortic valve endocarditis was diagnosed by echocardiography and severe insufficiency led to aortic valve replacement. Application of broad-range PCR to cusp tissue revealed a DNA product, and a diagnosis of Streptococcus pneumoniae endocarditis was obtained by DNA sequencing.