Diphtheroids rarely cause bacterial endocarditis (1-3) and were not found among the causative organisms in two large series of cases (4, 5).
Bacterial endocarditis occurs in approximately 1% of patients undergoing cardiac surgery (6-11). The mortality of this complication is high, ranging in various reports from 20% to almost 100% (7-13).
The present report concerns the cure, with antibacterial agents, of a patient with bacterial endocarditis caused by a diphtheroid, developing subsequent to aortic Starr valve replacement.
CASE REPORT: Patient J. L. (Y.-N.H.H. 42-54-02) is a 33-year-old white mother of two children, who at the age of 10 years had