Valvular Heart Disease USMLE Step 1 Practice Question
A 50 year old man with poor dentition presents with fever, malaise, and a new heart murmur 2 weeks after a dental extraction. Blood cultures grow alpha hemolytic gram positive cocci that are optochin resistant and bile insoluble. Echocardiography reveals a vegetation on a previously abnormal mitral valve. Which of the following organisms is the most likely cause?
Answer choices
- AStaphylococcus aureus
- BStreptococcus viridansCorrect answer
- CStaphylococcus epidermidis
- DPseudomonas aeruginosa
- EEnterococcus faecalis
- FStreptococcus pneumoniae
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