[Tricuspid infectious endocarditis in Brazzaville. Apropos of 12 cases]

The authors report their experience of the clinical and echocardiographic aspects and course of tricuspid infectious endocarditis, based upon 12 cases collected between September 1985 and December 1992. The diagnosis was confirmed on the basis of the association of signs of septicemia (12 cases), at least two positive blood cultures for the same organism (9 cases) and well-defined vegetations seen by trans-thoracic echocardiography (12 cases). All patients were young women: mean age = 21.8 +/- 4.7. None were heroin addicts but one was positive for human immune deficiency virus. Tricuspid infectious endocarditis was most often acute (9 cases), primary (10 cases, post-abortum (11 cases), due to Staphylococcus aureus (5 cases), and complicated by cardiac failure (12 cases) and lung abscess (4 cases). Four patients died of septicemia (2 cases), of cardiac failure and lung abscess (2 cases). One had severe tricuspid incompetence requiring surgery. It has not yet been possible to operate on this patient because of the lack of cardiac surgery facilities in Congo. The prevention of tricuspid infectious endocarditis depends above all on the fight against clandestine abortions and against the development of intravenous drug abuse.