Abstract： Objective To summarize the clinical diagnostic and therapeutic experiences of infective endocarditis (IE). Methods From Jan. 2000 to Aug. 2006，60 IE patients underwent heart operation in PLA General Hospital. There were 46 male and 14 female patients, with an average age of 34.3 years old. Blood culture was positive in 25 cases (41.7%), Streptococcus was found in 12 cases, Staphylococcus in 6 cases and other bacteria in 7 cases. Ultrasonic cardiography(UCG) revealed vegetations or valve perforation in 42 cases, including 26 aortic valves, 9 mitral valves and 6 double valves. 28 cases had primary cardiac diseases，including 16 cases of congenital heart anomalies，9 cases of rheumatic heart disease and 3 cases of mitral valve prolapse. High dose of sensitive antibiotics were utilized all through the treatment in all IE patients. There were 55 selective surgeries and 5 emergent ones. Infected tissues were debrided radically，intracardiac malformation was corrected in 16 cases, valve replacement was performed in 41 cases, tricuspid plasty in 1 case. Results There were 3 patients of earlydeath. 51 patients(89.5%) were followedup for 5-71 months with norecurrence. Postoperative cardiac function (NYHA): class I was in 38 cases, class II in 13 cases. Conclusion Early diagnosis, optimal surgical timing, combined internal medicine and surgical treatment provided good therapeutic effect of IE.
Objective To investigate clinical features and treatment strategy of cardiac complications caused by permanent pacemaker （PPM） implantation.?Methods?We retrospectively reviewed clinical records of 10 patients with cardiac complications caused by PPM who received surgical treatment in General Hospital of People’s Liberation Army from January 2003 to May 2010. There were seven males and three females with an average age of 62.9 years. One patient had an Atrial demand inhibited pacemaker （AAI） PPM and the other nine patients had a DDD PPM. Cardiac complications included infective endocarditis （IE） in 5 patients, tricuspid insufficiency （TI） in 4 patients and pulmonary artery thrombosis in one patient. According to their respective situation, these patients underwent different surgical treatment such as tricuspid valve plasty （TVP）， tricuspid valve replacement and/or removal of PPM lead and vegetations as part of intensive debridement of the infected area.?Results?Postoperatively， all the patients were successfully discharged. Five patients whose PPM lines and leads were preserved in the surgery had normal PPM function. Three PPM-dependent patients whose PPM leads were removed in the surgery received a PPM reimplantation later. Nine patients were followed up for an average of 5.5 months and all these patients had a significantly improved quality of life. One patient after TVP had mild TI during follow-up. Conclusion Surgical treatment should be performed as early as possible when infection is too severeto control in patients with IE caused by PPM. PPM-induced TI may be hard to be diagnosed preoperatively, and transesophageal echocardiography or surgical exploration should be considered to establish the diagnosis. Measures should be taken to protect PPM if PPM lines and leads are preserved during operation. Patients whose PPM lines and leads are removed during the surgery need to choose a suitable time for PPM reimplantation.