置換弁心内膜炎の治療

Therapy of prosthetic valve endocarditis

　先に我々は過去13年間における当施設での置換弁心内膜炎（prosthetic valve endocarditis：以下PVEと略す）11例につき，その頻度，臨床所見，合併症，病理所見などを中心に報告したが^1），今回PVEの治療内容につき検討を行い若干の考察を加えたのでここに報告する。

We evaluated the therapy in 11 patients with prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE) who were admitted to Heart Institute of Japan.

Seven cases were treated with medical therapy only, 1 with surgery only and 3 cases were operated on following medical therapy. Cases in which there was a long period from the onset until admission or where an inadequate amount of antibiotics were given had a poor prognosis. It is therefore suggested that therapy should be commenced as early as possible and antibiotics should be given in sufficient dosages. Of 4 cases treated surgically, 2 were operated on because of resistance to antibiotics and 2 for prosthetic valve malfunction.