Affiliation:
1. Baylor Scott & White Medical Center - Temple
Abstract
HACEK are gram negative organisms that are typically part of the oropharyngeal flora and are responsible for 1-3% of infective endocarditis cases. We describe an instance of multivalvular endocarditis caused by Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, which led to mechanical aortic valve dehiscence. Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans represents approximately 20% of HACEK endocarditis cases and are exclusively found as part of normal oropharyngeal flora and break the vascular boundary during routine oral hygiene or plaque buildup. Antibiotics for 4-6 weeks with ceftriaxone is the mainstay of antibiotic therapy with surgical intervention reserved for those with valve dysfunction resulting in refractory heart failure.
Publisher
Department of Medicine, Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University