Hemophilus endocarditis. Two patients with complications.

Two cases of Hemophilus endocarditis were diagnosed in our hospital during a six-month period. Although both patients were in good health until the onset of their endocarditis, both had brain emboli and required emergency heart-valve surgery. Falsely low incidences of this disease have been reported, since Hemophilus sp are difficult to isolate. Additionally, these organisms are consistently associated with large vegetations and have a greater than 50% incidence of embolization. It is this higher incidence of embolization that leads us to conclude that prophylactic surgery should be considered in selected patients.