Endocarditis, TEE question

[SMS]

Hi Guys. Yesterday I had my follow-up TEE after being treated for Endocarditis. According to my Cardiologist, there is still a mobile density on my posterior mitral leaf. I have not had any fevers, or felt ill in anyway since being in the hospital, and having 4 weeks of IV's. What could this be? Can a person still have bacterial growth on the valve and not be sick? I had to give blood for cultures today so we will see.

I was still loopy from the TEE, so I did not get to ask these questions. Cardiologist just told my girlfriend there was a density on my valve leaf, I needed surgery, and to send my records to CCF, and to have the blood drawn for the cultures today. Thanks

Steve

 

[mattwisconsin]

This is just my understanding, but definitely trust in your doctors that is the most important part. If you don't get new doctors. I apparently still have something that looks like an abscess after my treatment for endocarditis. Therefore, I am going in for surgery on April 15. I don't really have any fevers but so far the TEE cardiologist, my normal cardiologist, surgeon, and all the other medical officials seem to think that there is no way to know for sure whether this is an abscess without surgery. This combined with my moderate stenosis and A-fib and the possibility of a remnant of the infection have led to surgery.

So it seems reasonable to me. My understanding is that the antibiotic treatment is not guaranteed to get rid of the infection and that there are many factors such as how many places the infection has gotten itself into.

 

[designlady]

I know where you are coming from with this question. I also had endocarditis...all the tests showed some mass on the aortic valve. I did the IV antibotic treatments for 6 weeks. Anyway after all the antibotics and blood tests the mass still showed. My cardologist was totally honest with me and said they wouldn't be able to tell what it was until my surgery. However because of the bloodwork being clean and the fact that I had no more fevers he said to take a three to six month break before surgery. I needed that time to renew myself...physically, mentally and spiritually. If the fevers returned the surgery would have to go forward even with endocarditis. I elected to wait for six months...had my AVR and found out the mass was only scar tissue either from the endocarditis or the radiation treatment I had years ago. So according to where the density is and at what angle they may never be able to tell until you have surgery. Good luck! Let me know if I can be of any other help.

 

[Gail in Ca]

new valves after endocarditis

new valves after endocarditis

Sorry to read that you have a mass on the valve. I went thru 6 wks of IV antibiotics and my blood cultures were negative. However, I began to have crackling in my lungs and a major back pain that was getting worse.
I had a CT scan, another echo and another TEE which showed a bulge around my mechanical aortic valve.And another blood culture. ( All my tests done during the endocarditis showed no "vegetation" on my valves. I thought I was clear.)
It was decided that I needed surgery, my 3rd, to replace or repair my aortic and severely leaking mitral. The surgery, 6 wks ago, found that the infection had indeed affected my valves. I had a new aortic with conduit replacing my old valve and separate dacron graft. All the stitching is on the outside, which is good for keeping bacteria at bay. Then, my surgeon repaired my mitral, which had also been affected my the infection. It was a major long surgery.
But I am doing nicely, recovery is taking longer than my last 2 surgeries.
I think for many, they are finding that the valves must be replaced after endocarditis. It is a scarry thing, and I am freaked out about getting it again, since I don't know how I got it in the first place!
Good Luck, and pick a good surgeon!
Gail

 

[TakeStock]

Steve, each TTE and TEE for me saw different things post endo treatment, so it may turn out to be nothing. The surgeon ended up cutting out and replacing the area of the leaflet that had been infected -- it turned out to be well contained. Hopefully all your problems can be handled during the surgery and you won't have to have followup antibiotics. I just had to take 8 8hr doses of some antibiotic I have never heard of while I was in the hospital, via IV. With the damage antibiotics do to my digestion system, I would not have liked spending an extended period back on those drugs.

 

[MandyMV]

Unfortunately, when Ryan was in the hospital it was a question of if we were going to surgery but when. However, even when he was on IV antibiotics his blood cultures were negative but the damage was done and the infection was not getting better when viewed on echos and TEE. Also, as others are saying they really don't know until they are in there as they found a large abscess in addition to large vegetation on his valve. I am also jealous that many of you were on antibiotics for six weeks. Ryan had a total of 16 weeks of IV antibiotics (4 pre-surgery, 12 post-surgery). Luckily we could do some of it at home. All the best.

 

[Natanni]

Hi Guys. Yesterday I had my follow-up TEE after being treated for Endocarditis. According to my Cardiologist, there is still a mobile density on my posterior mitral leaf. I have not had any fevers, or felt ill in anyway since being in the hospital, and having 4 weeks of IV's. What could this be? Can a person still have bacterial growth on the valve and not be sick? I had to give blood for cultures today so we will see.

I was still loopy from the TEE, so I did not get to ask these questions. Cardiologist just told my girlfriend there was a density on my valve leaf, I needed surgery, and to send my records to CCF, and to have the blood drawn for the cultures today. Thanks

Steve

My husbands follow up post-endocarditis treatment TEE did not reveal any abnormalities (and his serum cultures post tx were also negative) and he went ahead with his AVR. When the surgeon came to speak with me after his surgery, he informed me that there were still vegatations (whether they were active or if this was more scarring, I forgot to answer) on his valve that TEE didn't even see. After his 6 weeks of IV Rocephin, my husband did feel much better, but I don't think he felt "well" until maybe 3 months post AVR. Not sure if this has helped, but thought I would offer the info.

 

[SMS]

Thanks for the input. I also had Rocephin, but for only 4 weeks.

As a side note, I got my Tee's put on a DVD to send to CCF, and copied them to my computer in case I needed to send them somewhere else. One of my video players worked on the file so I could play it. It sure gave me a weird feeling knowing it was MY heart I was looking at, even though I had no idea how to interpret it.

Steve