HACEK organisms

"HACEK" redirects here. For the diacritical mark known as háček, see Caron.

The HACEK organisms are a group of fastidious Gram-negative bacteria that are an unusual cause of infective endocarditis, which is an inflammation of the heart due to bacterial infection.[1] HACEK is an abbreviation of the initials of the genera of this group of bacteria: Haemophilus, Aggregatibacter (previously Actinobacillus), Cardiobacterium, Eikenella, Kingella.[1] The HACEK organisms are a normal part of the human microbiota, living in the oral-pharyngeal region.[2]

The bacteria were originally grouped because they were thought to be a significant cause of infective endocarditis, but recent research has shown that they are rare and only responsible for 1.4–3.0% of all cases of this disease.[1]

  1. ^ a b c Nørskov-Lauritsen, N (Apr 2014). "Classification, identification, and clinical significance of haemophilus and aggregatibacter species with host specificity for humans". Clinical Microbiology Reviews. 27 (2): 214–40. doi:10.1128/CMR.00103-13. PMC 3993099. PMID 24696434.
  2. ^ Feder HM, Jr; Roberts, JC; Salazar, J; Leopold, HB; Toro-Salazar, O (Jun 2003). "HACEK endocarditis in infants and children: two cases and a literature review". The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. 22 (6): 557–62. doi:10.1097/01.inf.0000069795.12338.cf. PMID 12799515. S2CID 3238233.