Prosthetic vascular graft infection: a risk factor analysis using a case-control study.

Objectives: Several factors have been anecdotally reported to increase the risk of prosthetic vascular graft infection (PVGI), a serious complication with high mortality and limb amputation rates. The goal of this study is to confirm purported risk factors using a well-designed statistical model.

Methods: Patients undergoing vascular graft placement at Mayo Clinic Rochester between January 1, 1982 and December 31, 2002 were retrospectively evaluated, excluding redo cases.

Intra-arterial Device Infections.

As an increasing number and variety of prosthetic devices are used in cardiovascular medicine, novel infectious complications have been described. Infection of intra-arterial devices, including arterial closure devices, prosthetic carotid patches, coronary artery stents and endovascular stents, and stent-grafts, is now being reported. Prosthetic vascular graft infection is an older, more common, and better-characterized entity, but recent developments in the surgical management of these infections have prompted a re-examination of the syndrome.

Q fever endocarditis in the United States.

Infections due to Coxiella burnetii, the causative organism of Q fever, are extremely rare in North America. Endocarditis due to the organism has an unusual presentation and poses echocardiographic and laboratory challenges in establishing a diagnosis. We describe the presentation and clinical course of a 40-year-old American man with Q fever endocarditis and briefly discuss the salient issues regarding this entity.

Pulmonary cryptococcosis in nonimmunocompromised patients.

Background: Cryptococcus neoformans can cause serious systemic infections requiring systemic antifungal therapy in immunocompromised hosts. However, isolated pulmonary cryptococcosis in nonimmunocompromised hosts has been reported to resolve spontaneously without treatment.

Study Objective: s: To determine the role of antifungal therapy in the management of isolated pulmonary cryptococcosis in nonimmunocompromised hosts.