ACUTE STAPHYLOCOCCIC ENDOCARDITIS CURED WITH THE AID OF BACITRACIN

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Abstract
The accompanying case of staphylococcic endocarditis is reported because it is the first instance in which recovery from this disease may be credited largely, if not entirely, to the use of bacitracin. Although the recovery rate from subacute bacterial endocarditis is very high if appropriate antibiotic therapy is instituted within a few weeks after onset, the outlook in cases of acute bacterial endocarditis, including those of staphylococcic endocarditis, is still very poor. Only five of the patients in the 25 cases of Staphylococcus aureus endocarditis collected by Wilhelm and others1 recovered after penicillin therapy, and only three patients in the nine cases studied by Levinson and others2 recovered after treatment with penicillin and aureomycin. The cure in the case presented here merits particular attention because the clinical manifestations were extremely severe and control of the infection had not been attained despite two weeks of treatment with massive doses