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To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ahj.2005.02.009 Byline: Pilar Martin-Davila (a), Enrique Navas (a), Jesus Fortun (a), Jose Luis Moya (b), Javier Cobo (a), Vicente Pintado (a), Carmen Quereda (a), Manuel Jimenez-Mena (b), Santiago Moreno (a) Abstract: Native valve endocarditis in drug-user patients had a microbiology, a frequency of involvement of different cardiac valves, and a prognosis that differ from those in non-drug users. A retrospective study of native valve endocarditis cases in intravenous drug users diagnosed from 1985 to 1999 in our institution was performed to analyze the inhospital mortality of drug users with native valve endocarditis and to identify factors predictive of mortality. Author Affiliation: (a) Department of Infectious Diseases, Hospital Ramon y Cajal, Madrid, Spain (b) Department of Cardiology, Hospital Ramon y Cajal, Madrid, Spain Article History: Received 23 June 2004; Accepted 7 February 2005

Byline: Ville V. Valtonen Abstract: A growing amount of epidemiologic, experimental, and clinical evidence has linked infection as a risk factor to variousatherosclerotic diseases including acute myocardial infarction and cerebral infarction. Bacteremic infections with and without endocarditis carry a high risk for both stroke and acute myocardial infarction. During the last decade, chronic bacterial infections such as Chlamydia pneumoniae and dental infections have been associated as risk factors for various atherosclerotic diseases. These chronic bacterial infections are risk factors for acute cardiovascular events, but they may also have some role in the etiopathogenesis of atherosclerotic process itself. There are many known mechanisms that might explain the observed association of infection and atherosclerotic diseases, but it is probable that these mechanisms are complex and multifactorial and probably differ from infection to infection and from patient to patient. Infection theory is by no means against classic risk factor theory in the etiopathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Infection may also act as a synergistic risk factor together with classic risk factors in the development of various atherosclerotic diseases. (Am Heart J 1999;138:S431-S433.) Author Affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Helsinki University Central Hospital. Helsinki, Finland Article Note: (footnote) [star] Reprint requests: Ville Valtonen, MD, Department of Medicine, Helsinki University Central Hospital, PL 340, 00029 HYKS, Helsinki, Finland., [star][star] 0002-8703/99/$8.00 + 0 4/0/101702