Fibrinolytic therapy in subacute bacterial endocarditis: an experimental study.

The effect of adding fibrinolytic to penicillin therapy in experimentally induced streptococcal bacterial endocarditis has been studied in the rabbit. In 9 day old infected lesions, the vegetations could be substantially reduced in size after a 3 day course of intravenous streptokinase. Quantitative microbiological techniques demonstrated that the addition of streptokinase to standard intravenous penicillin treatment led to more rapid sterilisation of the vegetations. Embolism to lungs and kidneys was assessed in treated and untreated rabbits. Penicillin reduced the rate of embolism but the addition of streptokinase reversed this effect and gave values similar to those recorded in untreated animals.