[Bacterial endocardiitis complicating fibroplastic endocarditis: a case report (author's transl)]

A young Protugese man, who had never travelled outside of Europe, was found to have a bacterial complication of a fibroplastic endocarditis. The onset was by a spontaneous chest pain, associated with a posterolatero-apical subepicardial ischemia and giant T waves in V3, V4, and calcification in the apex of the heart on radiography. Diagnosis was confirmed by intracardiac explorations: ventricular telediastolic pressures were increased; the lower border of the right ventricle was smooth, the left ventricle had a globular appearance with a smooth anterior border, the apex appearing to be completely excluded; coronarography was normal. Histological examination confirmed the presence of fibrosis. Anticoagulant treatment was started. Four months after the onset of the disease, a high fever, an apical systolic murmur, and nine positive blood cultures for a streptococcus mitis, suggested the development of a bacterial endocarditis, though no direct evidence was discovered. Improvement occurred after appropriate antibiotic therapy, and the anticoagulants were continued. Cardiac ultrasonography recordings were normal following this episode. This case-report is of two-fold interest: on the one hand it represents an early form of fibroplastic endocarditis, diagnosed by intracardiac exploration, and on the other hand it emphasizes the rare nature of bacterial complications of this affection. Authors differ in their evaluation of the frequency of chest pain, but their inaugural and isolated nature are rarely described. In most cases the presence of the disease is revealed by a progressive cardiac insufficiency. A very positive factor is the presence of calcifications, and the absence of an eosinophilia does not exclude the diagnosis. Electrical anomalies of the ischemic type are possible, but are rarely isolated findings, and the giant appearance of the T waves in this case is rather atypical. Bacterial complications are rare, and are only reported in 12 of the 218 cases described in the published literature. They are rarely diagnosed during the life of the patient (1 case only). The infection affects the cords, the valves, the thrombus, or the fibrosis itself.