Combined assessment of thrombotic and haemorrhagic risk in acute medical patients.

Acute medical patients have a high risk of venous thromboembolic events (VTE). Unfortunately, the fear of bleeding complications limits the use of antithrombotic prophylaxis in this setting. To stratify the VTE and haemorrhagic risk, two clinical scores (PADUA, IMPROVE) have recently been developed.

[Infective endocarditis with para-aortic abscess in mechanical aortic prosthesis].

Infective endocarditis (the infection of heart valves or, in generally, of endocardium) is a serious disease that requires a fast diagnosis, an aggressive and appropriate therapy and, if necessary, a collaboration between internist and surgeon. In this article we report a clinical case of an infective endocarditis in an old female patient, yet treated for aortic valve stenosis with replacement with mechanical prosthesis complicated by paravalvular abscess.