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The HACEK organisms are a group of fastidious Gram-negative bacteria that are an unusual cause of infective endocarditis, which is an inflammation of the heart due to bacterial infection. [1] HACEK is an abbreviation of the initials of the genera of this group of bacteria: Haemophilus , Aggregatibacter (previously Actinobacillus ...
Infective endocarditis may also be classified as culture-positive or culture-negative. By far the most common cause of "culture-negative" endocarditis is prior administration of antibiotics and can occur in up to 31% of cases. [14] [7]
It can also cause infections in insulin-dependent diabetics and intravenous drug users who lick their needles ("needle-licker's osteomyelitis"). [12] It is one of the HACEK group of infections which are a cause of culture-negative endocarditis. In general, the HACEK organisms are responsible for approximately 3% of all cases of infective ...
Fastidious Gram-negative bacteria such as Cardiobacterium hominis along with Eikenella corrodens and Kingella kingae mainly inhabiting in the oral and upper respiratory tract in humans are responsible for 1–3% of infective endocarditis. [18] Treatment of the disease involves third-generation cephalosporin with more than 80-90% success rate. [18]
Endocarditis is an inflammation of the inner layer of the heart, the endocardium.It usually involves the heart valves.Other structures that may be involved include the interventricular septum, the chordae tendineae, the mural endocardium, or the surfaces of intracardiac devices.
Other strains of streptococci can cause subacute endocarditis as well. These include streptococcus intermedius, which can cause acute or subacute infection (about 15% of cases pertaining to infective endocarditis). [7] Enterococci from urinary tract infections and coagulase negative staphylococci can also be causative agents. [5]
Diagnosing the cause of infective endocarditis, typically involves getting positive blood culture, which is literally growing bacteria from a blood sample. Echocardiography can also be used to visualize the heart and look for vegetations or more subtle clues like the way the valve’s moving.
Corynebacterium endocarditis usually infects the left side of the heart in males, though C. amycolatum has shown a predilection for women. [4] While cases of disease have been small in number, this underreporting could be due to misdiagnosis of C. amycolatum as C. xerosis, which is a known human pathogen. [2] [5]