[Does yoghurt gnaw at cardiac valves?].

A 22-year-old man with pre-existing aortic valve disease contracted acute lactobacillus endocarditis six weeks after a dental procedure despite adequate prophylaxis. We discuss the limitations of prophylaxis for infective endocarditis in use until the end of 2008 and describe the new updated guidelines. We also explain the treatment of lactobacillus endocarditis and speculate on possible health risks of the increasing use of lactobacillus-containing dairy products, especially in immune-compromised patients.

Impact of weather and climate on the incidence of acute coronary syndromes.

Background: First investigations of the interactions between weather and the incidence of acute myocardial infarctions date back to 1938. The early observation of a higher incidence of myocardial infarctions in the cold season could be confirmed in very different geographical regions and cohorts. While the influence of seasonal variations on the incidence of myocardial infarctions has been extensively documented, the impact of individual meteorological parameters on the disease has so far not been investigated systematically.

Successful conservative treatment of nontyphoid salmonella endocarditis involving a bioprosthetic valve.

We report a first case of Salmonella enteritidis endocarditis involving a bioprosthetic aortic valve. Despite additional native tricuspid valve involvement, the clinical course was favorable using an antibiotic regimen of ciprofloxacin and netilmicin. Although Salmonella prosthetic valve endocarditis is considered an indication for surgical replacement of the prosthesis, this case indicates that prolonged treatment with fluoroquinolones may be an alternative provided that the hemodynamic situation is stable.

[Cardiac interventions in Switzerland].

For the year 1995, as for the previous 10 years, a survey of cardiac invasive and surgical procedures in Switzerland was carried out by a standardised questionnaire. At the 25 Swiss centres (10 public non academic, 10 private and 5 academic centres) a total of 11,198 coronary revascularisation procedures were performed, the majority of them (60%) by percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). Of all PTCAs, 89% were single vessel interventions.

[Quality assurance in invasive cardiology: Switzerland].

In Switzerland, since 1985 mortality and morbidity data concerning either diagnostic and therapeutical coronary catheterization have been annually collected and analyzed. All interventional centres of the country (1994: 5 universities, 9 private and 3 public non academic hospitals) delivered their respective data. While there was a marked increase in diagnostic catheterizations (1989: 11'197, 1994: 20'603) and PTCAs (1989: 1'976, 1994: 5'590), the incidence of procedure related myocardial infarctions, emergency coronary artery bypass graftings (CABG) and in-hospital deaths evolved as shown in table 1 (results separated for university and non-university centres).