Diagnosing and Treating Acute Infective Endocarditis

TL;DRAbstract

Infective endocarditis (IE) is broadly defined as a microbial infection involving the endocardium, or inner chamber lining, of the heart. The process is termed "acute" if it progresses over days to weeks or "sub-acute" if it has a more protracted course. The incidence of infective endocarditis in population studies is estimated to be between 3.6 and 7 cases per 100,000 patient years Infective endocarditis occurs predominantly in the context of structural heart disease and conditions or procedures that increase the risk of bloodstream infections, such as indwelling intravenous catheters, hemodialysis, prolonged hospitalization, pacemaker or ICD placement, and intravenous drug abuse. Despite advances in modern medicine, infective endocarditis remains a major cause of death from an infectious process, with an overall mortality approaching 20 percent.

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