Clinical, Echocardiographic and Microbiological Evaluation Of Infective Endocarditis In Cardiac Patients

Background: We planned to study cases of Infective endocarditis (IE) to define diagnostic criteria and to arrange treatment protocol. Methods: The study included 1121 patients, divided in to two groups. Group 1 included 57 patients with IE. Those were collected over a period of 37 months. Group 2 included 1064 patients who under went cardiac surgery or intervention. Patients were examined clinically, had ECG, X-ray, Echocardiography, and blood culture. Then they were followed up for six months. Results: The incidence of IE was 15 patients/ 1000 cardiac admissions. The incidence of Prosthetic Valve Endocarditis (PVE) was found to be 1.7% of PV replacement. Group I (57 IE patients). Preexisting heart disease was present in 55 patients (96.5%). The underlying heart diseases were rheumatic in 39 (68.4%). Echocardiography detected vegetations in 86% of patients with NVE, while only 28.6% of PVE. Positive blood culture was found in 72%. 58% lived the follow-up period (33/57). The causes of death were heart failure, pulmonary embolism, and cerebral hemorrhage. There was no correlation between the change in vegetation size and success of therapy. Conclusions: We defined diagnostic criteria of IE and set the antimicrobial protocol of management.