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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]
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.
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]
Gram-negative bacteremia occurs more frequently in elderly populations (65 years or older) and is associated with higher morbidity and mortality in this population. [23] E.coli is the most common cause of community-acquired bacteremia accounting for approximately 75% of cases. [24] E.coli bacteremia is usually the result of a urinary tract ...
[4] 10–25% of endocarditis patients will have Osler's nodes. [5] Other signs of endocarditis include Roth's spots and Janeway lesions. The latter, which also occur on the palms and soles, can be differentiated from Osler's nodes because they are non-tender. [3] Osler's nodes can also be seen in Systemic lupus erythematosus; Marantic endocarditis
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.