eMedicine Specialties > Infectious Diseases > Cardiovascular and Intravascular Infections
Myocardial Abscess: Follow-up
Updated: Aug 27, 2009
Follow-up
Further Inpatient Care
- Aggressive postoperative supportive therapy in patients with myocardial abscess includes the following:
- Agents for stabilization of hemodynamics
- Fluid and electrolyte balance
- Nutrition (parenteral or enteral)
- Continuation of antibiotic therapy may be necessary. Patients may still require a prolonged 6-week course of antibiotic therapy.
Further Outpatient Care
- Continuation of adjunctive therapy
- Anticoagulation therapy, in case of metallic prosthetic valve replacement
- Continuing antibiotic therapy
- Diuretic use with CHF
- Antiarrhythmic therapy for postoperative arrhythmias
- Aggressive antibiotic prophylaxis prior to minor surgeries
Inpatient & Outpatient Medications
- Vancomycin
- Gentamicin
- Dopamine
- Diuretics
- Anticoagulants
Transfer
- Patients with infective endocarditis usually exhibit rapid deterioration, and they may require transfer to a tertiary care facility for a diagnostic workup and open heart surgery. Such patients must be transported via an Advanced Cardiac Life Support ambulance staffed with well-trained and experienced paramedics.
Deterrence/Prevention
- Prompt and effective treatment of infective endocarditis is required.
- A high index of suspicion and early recognition of the changes that suggest development of myocardial abscess are necessary.
- Regular prophylaxis for subacute bacterial endocarditis, with preoperative antibiotics according to the recommendations of the American Heart Association, is necessary.
- Critically ill patients with myocardial abscess and infective endocarditis are usually bedridden, with minimal activity. Frequently, such patients must receive prophylaxis to prevent development of DVT and PE.
Complications
- Myocardial perforation
- Significant clinical deterioration
- Worsening CHF
- Worsening heart sounds and murmurs
- New-onset valvular regurgitation (100% of cases)11
- Poor response to antibiotics
- Development of conduction defects or progression of heart block, such as bundle-branch block and atrioventricular block (45%)2
- Sudden onset of complete heart block or Mobitz type II block (highly specific)
- Type of valve involvement, eg, aortic valve endocarditis (40%-85%)
- Miscellaneous
- Severe recurrent ventricular arrhythmias
- Pericarditis (uncommon)
- Infection of the prosthetic valves
- Right-sided endocarditis in patients with congenital heart disease
Prognosis
- With early diagnosis and prompt surgical treatment, patients improve rapidly.
- Without surgical intervention, the prognosis worsens very significantly.
Patient Education
- Educate patients regarding their condition, and emphasize the importance of prophylaxis.
- For excellent patient education resources, visit eMedicine's Infections Center and Heart Center. Also, see eMedicine's patient education articles Abscess and Antibiotics.
Miscellaneous
Medicolegal Pitfalls
- Myocardial abscess is still recognized infrequently, particularly in the setting of complicated infective endocarditis, in which it has been found in as many as a third of cases. Early detection is of paramount importance to the course of treatment and prognosis.
- Clinicians should have a high index of suspicion, and they should proceed aggressively in patients with infective endocarditis who exhibit signs of rapid deterioration and a complicated course, such as new-onset conduction defects, CHF, valvular regurgitation, pericarditis, protracted course of illness, or failure to eradicate septicemia despite an adequate antibiotic regimen.
Special Concerns
- Summary
- Myocardial abscess is an important clinical condition with high rates of morbidity and mortality unless it is diagnosed and surgically treated in a prompt manner. Although diagnosis of this condition was difficult in the past and most cases were found at surgery or autopsy, it has now been tremendously facilitated by advancements in noninvasive diagnostic modalities.
- Myocardial abscess can now be detected antemortem, owing to the availability of multiple diagnostic modalities, many noninvasive. The availability of TTE and TEE,111 In radionuclide scintigraphy, CT scan, and MRI has tremendously simplified the diagnosis and management of myocardial abscess.
- The diagnostic modality of choice is TEE because of its high sensitivity and fairly adequate specificity. Do exclude myocardial abscess without first performing a TEE. Other diagnostic modalities are helpful as second-line tests.
- Once the diagnosis is made, prompt surgical intervention is almost always required to improve prognosis.
More on Myocardial Abscess |
| Overview: Myocardial Abscess |
| Differential Diagnoses & Workup: Myocardial Abscess |
| Treatment & Medication: Myocardial Abscess |
Follow-up: Myocardial Abscess |
| Multimedia: Myocardial Abscess |
| References |
| Further Reading |
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Keywords
myocardial abscess, myocardial sepsis, cardiac abscess, bacterial endocarditis, infective endocarditis, IE, endocardial abscess, suppurative endocarditis, infectious myocarditis, heart infection, heart valve infection, valve infection, prosthetic valve infection, perivalvular infection, cardiac conduction system infection
Follow-up: Myocardial Abscess