Infective endocarditis prophylaxis

Infective endocarditis and oral surgery input before cardiac surgery: time to prick the paradigm of pre-cardiac surgery assessments?

Purpose To review current practice regarding oral surgery input for patients awaiting cardiac valvular surgery and who are at risk of infective endocarditis (IE) in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to stimulate debate around the indications for pre-operative oral surgery assessment. It also opens the way to developing a new research-based approach which is patient-centred, safe, effective and efficient.Methods A desk-top based patient review was undertaken between 27 March 2020 and 1 July 2022 to record the outcome of patients undergoing cardiac valvular surgery in Northern Ireland, following the revision of the referral guidelines for oral surgery intervention. Data were collected for all cardiac referrals to the oral surgery on-call service in the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast. Complications were recorded at two weeks, two months, and six months post-surgery, using Northern Ireland Electronic Care Records.Results In total, 67 cardiac patients were identified between 27 March 2020 and 1 July 2022: 65.7% of patients were male and had an average age of 68, while the female patients had an average age of 61. The mean interval of date of cardiology referral to surgery date was 9.7 working days, with 36% of patients referred within five days of the planned surgery date. Moreover, 39% had valvular surgery in combination with another type of cardiac surgery. No complications linked to dental aetiology were noted.Conclusions This paper raises questions about the advisability of oral surgery input before cardiac surgery for anything other than pain relief, management of acute dental sepsis, or IE whose source has been identified as an oral commensal. The COVID-19 pandemic has presented an opportunity to review current practice and open the way to developing a new approach which is patient-centred, safe, effective and efficient.

AngioVac for Minimally Invasive Removal of Intravascular and Intracardiac Masses: a Systematic Review

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Management of intracardiac masses, such as right heart thrombi and catheter-related vegetations, can be challenging. Many patients are high-risk candidates for surgical extraction due to multiple comorbidities and risk of distal embolization. In this review, we highlight the advancements in percutaneous approaches for treatment of intracardiac masses utilizing AngioVac (AngioDynamic, Latham, NY).

RECENT FINDINGS

With the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the AngioVac System in 2009, a growing body of evidence has proven it to be a feasible and effective tool to extract thrombi and masses from the iliocaval system and the right heart. In this review, we highlight the feasibility of AngioVac System (AngioDynamic, Latham, NY) based on the published cases series and registries. Future randomized controlled trials are needed to establish an algorithmic approach in treating intracardiac masses.

Dentists' knowledge and practice regarding prevention of infective endocarditis

Objectives:

The objective of this study is to assess the knowledge and practice of dentists from Jordan, regarding prevention of infective endocarditis (IE) in dental practice.

Materials and Methods:

A sample of Jordanian dentists was interviewed regarding their IE knowledge and practice using a validated and pretested survey instrument.

Results:

Most of the dentists have encountered a patient with IE who needed prophylactic antibiotic (PA) and have prescribed antibiotics to prevent IE. Jordanian dentists’ approach to patients in need for PA varied between the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence recommendations and the American Heart Association to a lesser degree, but still a relatively high percent (39%) did not know any guidelines to follow although 74% have encountered patients who needed endocarditis prophylaxis. Patients with prosthetic heart valve were ranked on top of medical conditions that required PA (87.4%), and most dentists (94.5%) thought that dental extractions need PA followed by periodontal surgery (88.2%).

Conclusion:

There is a lack of consistency in the knowledge and practice of Jordanian dentists with regard to IE. There is a need to take actions to improve dentist's knowledge regarding this topic.

Oral healthcare management in Bardet Biedl syndrome

Bardet Biedl syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive disorder with variable clinical presentation and challenging diagnosis. Recognition of orofacial features might help in the diagnosis. Dental management of affected patients might be complicated by renal, cardiac, metabolic, neurosensory, and cognitive defects.

International guideline changes and the incidence of infective endocarditis: a systematic review

The objective of this study was to determine the impact on incident infective endocarditis (IE) of guideline recommendations to restrict indications for antibiotic prophylaxis. We conducted a systematic review according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guideline. PubMed and EMBASE databases were searched for articles published between 2007 and 2015 using mesh terms relevant to the research question. Included were English language articles published after 2009 that provided estimates of IE incidence before-and-after major international guideline changes. Seven studies were identified: 1 conducted in France, 4 in the USA and 2 in the UK. Only 1 study reported an increase in the rate of incident IE following guideline modification, and the remainder showed no change in upward (2 studies) or downward (4 studies) incidence trends. Study quality was generally poor for answering the question posed in this review, with serious risk of bias related to diagnostic ascertainment and unavailability of population risk data to adjust the incidence estimates. Moreover, the studies were often small, and relevant bacteriological data were not always available. Only 2 reported changes in antibiotic prescriptions, but these data were not linked to health records making it impossible to determine causal relations to changes in incident IE. The studies in this review were heterogenous in their design and variably limited by study size, duration of follow-up, diagnostic ascertainment, and absence of relevant prescription and bacteriological data. The studies were inconsistent in their conclusions and it remains uncertain what, if any, has been the impact of antibiotic prophylaxis guideline changes on the incidence of IE.

Collagen-binding proteins of Streptococcus mutans and related streptococci

The ability of Streptococcus mutans to interact with collagen through the expression of collagen-binding proteins (CBPs) bestows this oral pathogen with an alternative to the sucrose-dependent mechanism of colonization classically attributed to caries development. Based on the abundance and distribution of collagen throughout the human body, stringent adherence to this molecule grants S. mutans with the opportunity to establish infection at different host sites. Surface proteins, such as SpaP, WapA, Cnm and Cbm, have been shown to bind collagen in vitro, and it has been suggested that these molecules play a role in colonization of oral and extra-oral tissues. However, robust collagen binding is not achieved by all strains of S. mutans, particularly those that lack Cnm or Cbm. These observations merit careful dissection of the contribution from these different CBPs towards tissue colonization and virulence. In this review, we will discuss the current understanding of mechanisms used by S. mutans and related streptococci to colonize collagenous tissues, and the possible contribution of CBPs to infections in different sites of the host.

Ellis-Van Creveld syndrome: dental management considerations and description of a new oral finding

Ellis-Van Creveld is a rare syndrome with characteristic dental and orofacial findings. Dental management of patients with Ellis-Van Creveld syndrome can be complicated by the associated skeletal and cardiac abnormalities. Here, we present the dental and orofacial findings in a patient with Ellis-Van Creveld syndrome, describe a new oral finding, and discuss the dental management considerations.