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Biomedical subjects

P R Brofman

Publications and source records attributed to P R Brofman.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Heart valve operations in patients with active infective endocarditis.

Sixty-two consecutive patients underwent heart valve operation for active infective endocarditis. There were 42 men and 20 women whose mean age was 49 years (range, 21 to 79 years). The infection was in the aortic valve in 37 patients, the mitral valve in 18, the aortic and mitral valves in 5, and the tricuspid valve in 2. Twenty-four patients had prosthetic valve endocarditis. Staphylococcus and Streptococcus were responsible for 86% of the infections. Annular abscess was encountered in 33 patients. Complex valve procedures involving reconstruction of the left ventricular inflow or outflow tract or both were performed in 31 patients. There were three operative deaths (4.8%). Predictors of operative mortality were prosthetic valve endocarditis, preoperative shock, and annular abscess. Patients were followed for 1 month to 130 months (mean follow-up, 43 months). Only 1 patient required reoperation for persistent infection. There were ten late deaths. Most survivors (96%) are currently in New York Heart Association class I or II. The 5-year actuarial survival was 79% +/- 7%. These data demonstrate excellent results in patients with native valve endocarditis, and support the premise that patients with prosthetic valve endocarditis should have early surgical intervention.

Adult

Surgical treatment of aortic root abscess.

A significant number of patients with infective aortic valve endocarditis develop aortic annular abscess. Although antibiotics may occasionally sterilize an aortic root abscess, most patients require surgical intervention. A review of our experience with 21 consecutive patients surgically treated for aortic root abscess disclosed that 13 patients had prosthetic valve and eight had native aortic valve endocarditis. The predominant microorganism was Staphylococcus aureus, particularly in those patients with native aortic valve endocarditis. The abscess was limited to the aortic annulus in 10 patients and was either multiple or had perforated the left ventricular outflow tract in 11 patients. Most patients were desperately ill at the time of operation. Repair was accomplished by aggressive debridement of all apparently infected tissue and reconstruction of the left ventricular outflow tract with autologous pericardium. Although postoperative complications were common, only one patient died in hospital. Operative survivors have been followed up from 3 to 68 months (mean, 29 months). One patient died of complications of repair of a thoracoabdominal aneurysm 34 months after surgery; his prosthetic aortic valve and patch were intact at autopsy. No patient has experienced recurrent infection, pericardial patch aneurysm, or prosthetic valve dehiscence.

Abscess