MANAGEMENT OF INFECTIVE ENDOCARDITIS IN PREGNANCY

EDITORIAL COMMENT: : We accepted this paper for publication to remind readers that bacterial endocarditis can occur in pregnancy and requires prompt diagnosis and treatment for favourable results. Fever and/or urinary symptoms should suggest the diagnosis especially when the women is known to have a cardiac murmur. We were interested to read how echocardiography can reveal the presence of vegetations on affected valves. Our cardiologist reviewer was not 100% convinced that the diagnosis was proven in Case 1 since ‘many patients would have bacteraemic episodes with a known cardiac lesion which does not necessarily go on to produce endocarditis’. Our reviewer considered the diagnosis in Case 2 to be clear‐cut, but was surprised how successful antibiotic therapy alone was in view of the evidence of peripheral embolization. Copyright © 1991, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved