CURE OF SUBACUTE BACTERIAL ENDOCARDITIS WITH PENICILLIN AND CHLORAMPHENICOL

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Abstract
A number of reports have appeared concerning the interference of aureomycin, chloramphenicol, and terramycin with the bactericidal action of penicillin.1 Most of these were based on in vitro and animal studies, but Lepper and Dowling2 have recently described apparent interference of aureomycin with the action of penicillin in patients with pneumococcal meningitis. The following report of the cure of a case of subacute bacterial endocarditis is of interest in that the clinical evidence as well as the sensitivity studies suggest synergism between chloramphenicol and penicillin. REPORT OF A CASE L. S., a 32-year-old white drill press operator, had been in good health until July 4, 1948, when fatigue, malaise, and persistent low grade fever developed. He stopped working and received penicillin intermittently for several months, with transient relief of his symptoms. In late December, 1948, pleural effusion on the right side and ankle edema developed, and he lost