Rapidly progressive vegetative endocarditis.

Echocardiography has become a valuable tool in visualizing and localizing vegetations in patients with bacterial endocarditis. Since the natural course of vegetative lesions remains poorly understood, we report a case of a rapidly progressive vegetative lesion in a patient with staphylococcal endocarditis. Although the significance of this observation will require a larger experience, it may represent an accelerated form of disease necessitating surgical management.