Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 17, 2025

Catheter-based Endovascular Angioplasty for Fibrosing Mediastinitis-associated Pulmonary Vein Stenosis
Published on: August 26, 2025
Coronary artery embolism and culture-negative endocarditis post Bentall's procedure
Jared McNeill1, Hong Chew1, David Andresen2
1Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Insights
Afebrile infective endocarditis, especially in prosthetic heart valve patients, poses diagnostic challenges. This case highlights coronary artery embolism as an unusual complication, emphasizing early consideration of endocarditis even without typical symptoms.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Infectious Diseases
- Internal Medicine
Background:
- Infective endocarditis (IE) is a significant cause of illness and death.
- Classic IE presentation includes fever and nonspecific symptoms, but diagnosis is difficult in afebrile patients with negative blood cultures.
- Prosthetic heart valves increase IE risk.
Observation:
- This case highlights IE in a patient without typical fever or elevated inflammatory markers.
- The patient had a prosthetic heart valve, a known risk factor for IE.
- Diagnosis was delayed due to the absence of classic symptoms.
Findings:
- The study discusses an unusual IE complication: coronary artery embolism.
- This embolism led to myocardial infarction (heart attack).
- It underscores the need for vigilance in diagnosing IE, even with atypical presentations.
Implications:
- Clinicians must consider IE in patients with prosthetic valves, even without fever or elevated inflammatory markers.
- Prompt diagnosis and treatment are crucial to avoid severe complications like myocardial infarction.
- This case emphasizes the diverse clinical manifestations of infective endocarditis.
Abstract:
Infective endocarditis is an important cause of morbidity and mortality, which classically presents with fevers and nonspecific symptoms. Afebrile infective endocarditis with negative blood cultures makes diagnosis more challenging and delays in treatment can occur increasing the likelihood of complications. The presence of prosthetic heart valves places patients at an increased risk of infective endocarditis and the case described below highlights the importance of considering this diagnosis even if classic clinical features such as fever and raised inflammatory markers are not present, as well as discussing an unusual complication of infective endocarditis; coronary artery embolism leading to myocardial infarction.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Endocarditis I: Introduction
Endocarditis III: Medical Management
Endocarditis IV: Nursing Management
Endocarditis II: Clinical Features of Infective Endocarditis
Cardiac Catheterization II: Right Heart Catheterization
Cardiac Catheterization I: Pre-Procedure Overview

