Myocardial abscesses

Abstract

A review of postmortem materials from two teaching hospitals, accumulated in a 14-year period (1962--1975), disclosed 63 patients with myocardial abscesses among 12,359 autopsies, an incidence of 0.5%. All 63 patients had multi-focal myocardial abscesses; the lesions were grossly discernible in six patients. Coexisting infective endocarditis was present in approximately 20% (12) of the 63 patients with myocardial abscesses. Candida and Staphylococcus aureus were most common organisms responsible for the abscesses. Candida was identified in 23 patients (37%) by histologic examination of the heart sections, and 11 of these also had antemortem blood cultures positive for Candida. Staphylococcus aureus was cultured from the antemortem blood of 22 patients, two of whom also showed candidal organisms in the heart at necropsy. Eighty-one per cent (51) of 63 patients had abscesses in one or more extracardiac organs. It appeared that most of the myocardial abscesses had resulted from disseminated sepsis. Surgical conditions, malignancy and alcoholic hepatic disease were the most frequent primary conditions in patients with myocardial abscesses.