Jacques B. Wallach

Bacterial endocarditis in the aged.

Excerpt For many years the occurrence of bacterial endocarditis in the older age group has been inadequately emphasized. A review of several groups of patients with bacterial endocarditis reported ...

Auricular Fibrillation and Mitral Stenosis in Bacterial Endocarditis

The infrequent association of bacterial endocarditis with auricular fibrillation and with severe mitral stenosis is noted. The relevant literature is reviewed. Eighty-two cases of bacterial endocarditis superimposed on rheumatic heart disease and 47 examples of bacterial endocarditis without underlying rheumatic valvulitis are studied. Auricular fibrillation and severe mitral stenosis occurred less frequently in these groups than in patients with rheumatic heart disease without bacterial endocarditis. Various theories to account for these observations are analyzed and an alternative explanation is offered.

Bacterial Endocarditis and Mural Thrombi in the Heart

The infrequent occurrence of mural thrombi in the chambers of the heart is noted. The relevant literature is reviewed. The findings in eighty-two cases of bacterial endocarditis superimposed on rheumatic heart disease and in 47 examples of bacterial endocarditis without underlying rheumatic valvulitis are reported. These findings may reflect the infrequency of auricular fibrillation and of severe mitral stenosis in cases of bacterial endocarditis. The results further substantiate the origin of emboli from the valvular vegetations, bacterial or nonbacterial, rather than from the cardiac chambers, and this correlates with the bland character of most of the infarcts.