Pneumococcal endocarditis in infants.

Abstract

A case of pneumococcal endocarditis in an infant is reported together with a review of seven cases previously described in the literature. The prominent presenting symptoms of this usually fatal disease consisted of tachycardia, tachypnea, and cardiomegaly. A new murmur was heard in six of the eight patients. Fever was infrequent. Blood cultures were positive when done. The mitral valve was the site of infection in seven of the patients. In contrast to adult patients, pneumonia and meningitis are rarely encountered in children with pneumococcal endocarditis. The disease was fatal in all four patients before the penicillin era and in three of four patients who received penicillin.