Infective endocarditis – role of the coagulation system and anti-platelet prophylaxis in patients at risk.

Infective endocarditis (IE) is a major problem in patients after heart valve replacement. Preventive treatment with anti-platelet drugs has been partially introduced in clinical practice while its benefit to reduce the risk of IE remains under discussion.This proposal combines the clinical, multidisciplinary expertise gained from diagnosis and treatment of IE patients with complementary basic research on platelet activation, bacterial recruitment and fibrin formation in IE. We aim to understand how the underlying graft tissues modify the onset of IE with respect to bacterial and platelet adhesion and inflammation in-vitro. In terms of therapeutic applications, we will elucidate the effect of anti-platelet substances on bacterial recruitment to vascular lesions in- vitro and in a sheep model. In addition, we extend our patient database for clinical research concerning the role of antiplatelet therapy in IE prevention.

Keywords:endocarditis, S. aureus, platelets, cardiac tissues

Disciplines:Cardiology