A Case of Infective Endocarditis Secondary to Tooth Extraction Under Antibiotic Treatment

• Main Authors: Arzu ÇİFTÇİ, Gülçin TELLİ, Ayşe DEMİRCİ, Berna ÖZDEMİR KEPEK, Ayşegül İnci NARİN, Özlem Güzel TUNÇCAN, Murat DİZBAY, Kenan HIZEL, Firdevs AKTAŞ, Dilek ARMAN
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bilimsel Tip Yayinevi 2010-09-01
• Series: Flora Infeksiyon Hastalıkları ve Klinik Mikrobiyoloji Dergisi
• Subjects: Endocarditis; Prevention & control
• Online Access: http://www.floradergisi.org/getFileContent.aspx?op=REDPDF&file_name=2010-15-3-129-133.pdf

Infective endocarditis is a serious life-threatening infection. Since 1940, guidelines about prophylaxis for infective endocarditis have been developed and updated. Here, we describe a case of complicated infective endocarditis secondary to dental extraction without prophylaxis because the patient was under amoxicillin clavulanate treatment due to upper respiratory tract infection. Her medical history revealed acute rheumatic fever with cardiac involvement and mitral valve prolapsus. Currently, infective endocarditis prophylaxis in moderate risk groups such as rheumatic valve diseases is not recommended in the guidelines published in developed countries. The importance of bacteremia caused by daily activities was emphasized, and ensuring proper oral hygiene was considered more important. Certainly, this condition is important in each patient and population; however, this approach is controversial in countries where the incidence of rheumatic valve diseases and the risk of infective endocarditis are high. Furthermore, the timing and dosage of the antibiotic must also be taken into account in order to maintain efficient serum and tissue concentrations of the drug.