A Successful Case of Prosthetic Valve Endocarditis with Previous Aortic Root Replacement

Abstract

A 58 year-old man was referred to our hospital with a fever after dental treatment. He had undergone an operation for aortic root replacement 9 months earlier. Streptococcus species were cultured with venous blood culture. An echocardiogram revealed vegetation attached to the prosthetic valve. The prosthetic valve function was good and he did not suffer from heart failure, therefore he was treated with antibiotics. Five days after starting antibiotics, we observed embolization of the brain and the kidney as well as an elevation of his inflammatory reaction. Accordingly, we performed emergency surgery. There was no paravalvular abscess or valve dysfunction, so we simply resected the vegetation and debrided the surrounding tissue. Post-surgical antibiotic therapy was continued for 5 weeks and then he was switched to oral medication. Three years after surgery, he is free from any PVE recurrence.