Sudden death in infective endocarditis

Abstract

In patients suffering from infective endocarditis, sudden death is not an uncommon occurrence. Recent reports have stressed that a full four-week to six-week course of antibiotic therapy need to be completed before valvular replacement is undertaken. Consequently the identification of subjects who are at increased risk of sudden death takes on added importance. We report the clinical, serial echocardiographic, and necropsy findings in a patient with aortic valvular endocarditis in order to call attention to a complication which is not usually appreciated, namely, occlusion of the coronary ostia by valvular vegetations.