Background: Echocardiography is an essential evaluation in the diagnosis of infectious endocarditis (IE). Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) is a portable study that is widely available and non-invasive. Though transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is traditionally known for higher sensitivity and specificity, it is speculated that improvements in modern TTE imaging could produce higher diagnostic yield than previously thought. [...]

Case Presentation: A 36-year-old male with a medical history significant for IV heroin abuse and bipolar disorder presented to the hospital with confusion, fever and chills. Initial vitals were concerning for septic shock, and the patient was promptly started on broad-spectrum antibiotics and aggressively fluid resuscitated following sepsis protocols. Physical examination was concerning for a [...]

Case Presentation: 27 year old Caucasian female admitted with fever, abdominal pain radiating to back. She was not an IV drug user. Has a recent history of facial abscess following spider bite but no signs of cellulitis over extremities. There was a small red spot on lower right eyelid, no Osler nodes, janeway lesions, no [...]

Case Presentation: A 64-year-old male with gastric carcinoma and no prior cardiac history presented to the emergency room with altered mental status. On arrival, the patient was tachypneic, hypoxic, hypothermic, tachycardic and hypotensive. Initial investigations showed the patient had a leukocytosis with a left shift. Blood cultures taken upon arrival eventually grew E. Coli, thought [...]

Case Presentation: A 30 year-old female presented postpartum day 1 following a normal vaginal delivery from an outside hospital after chest CT angiography (CTA) identified a 2.5 cm pericardial effusion. Review of systems was positive for dry cough, left sided chest pain, dyspnea on exertion, recent post-partum abdominal pain, chills, and diaphoresis. On arrival to [...]