Infective endocarditis (IE) – echocardiographic evaluation Review article
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Infective endocarditis (IE) is lethal if not aggressively treated with antibiotics, combined or not with surgery. Developments in antibacterial therapy, clinical microbiology, cardiac imaging, and cardiac surgery have revolutionized its diagnosis and prognosis. Despite improvement in health care, the incidence of disease has not changed over the past decades. This apparent paradox results from progressive change in risk factors for IE. Precise diagnosis is mandatory to guide therapy. In 1994 diagnostic criteria (so-colled Duke criteria) based on both microbiological data and echocardiographic imaging were proposed. In 2004 The European Society of Cardiology Task Force on Infective Endocarditis classified the usefulness and efficacy of the recommended diagnostic and therapeutic approach. According to this document the crucial role in diagnosis of IE plays echocardiography – transthoracic and transesaphageal. But even the most elaborate algorithm on the diagnosis and treatment of IE has little impact if the diagnosis is not suspected early enough. Real improvement in the management of IE thus depends on a higher index of suspicion for this potentially life-threatening condition.
Downloads
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright: © Medical Education sp. z o.o. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), allowing third parties to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and to remix, transform, and build upon the material, provided the original work is properly cited and states its license.
Address reprint requests to: Medical Education, Marcin Kuźma (marcin.kuzma@mededu.pl)
References
2. Witchtz S., Reidiboym M., Bouvet E., Wolff M., Vachon F.: Outcome of prognostic factors of infectious endocarditis over a 16 year period. Arch Mal Coeur Vaiss 1992, 85, 959-965.
3. Hutchinson S.J., Chandraratna P.A.: Endocarditis. Curr Opin Cardiol 1994, 176-180.
4. Fernicola D.J., Roberts W.C.: Clinicopathologic features of active infective endocarditis isolated to the native mitral valve. Am J Cardiol 1993, 71, 1186-1197.
5. Hoen B., Selton-Sulty C., Danchin N., Weber M., Villmot J., Mathieu P., Floquet J., Canton P.: Evaluation of the Duke criteria versus the Beth – Israel criteria for diagnosis of infective endocarditis. Clin Infect Dis 1995, 21, 905-909.
6. Horstkotte D., Follath F., Gutchlik E. et al.: Guidelines on prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infective endocarditis. The Task Force on infective endocarditis of the European Society of Cardiology. Eur Heart J 2004, 25, 267-76.
7. Dillon J.C., Feigenbaum H., Konecke L.L.: Echocardiographic manifestation of valvular vegetation. Am Heart J 1973, 86, 698.
8. Stewart J.A., Silimperi D., Harris P.: Echocardiographic documentation of vegetative lesions in infective endocarditis: clinical implications. Circulation 1980, 61, 374.
9. Sanfilippo A.J., Pacard M.H., Newell J.B., Rosas E., Davidoff R., Thomas J.D., Weyman A.E.: Echocardiographic assessment of patients with infectious endocarditis: prediction of risk for complications. J Am Coll Cardiol 1991, 18, 1191-9.
10. Daniel W.G., Schroder E., Mugge A. et al.: Transesophageal echocardiography in infective endocarditis. Am J Cardiac Imag 1988, 2, 78.
11. Mugge A., Daniel W.G., Frank G., Lichtlen P.R.: Echocardiography in infective endocarditis: reassessment of prognostic implication of vegetation size determined by the transthoracic and the transesophageal approach. J Am Coll Cardiol 1989, 14, 631-8.
12. Rohmann S., Erbel R., Gorge G., Makowski T., Mohr-Kahaly S., Nixdorff U., Drexler M., Meyer J.: Clinical relevance of vegetation localization by transesophageal echocardiography in infective endocarditis. Eur Heart J 1992, 12, 446-52.
13. Rohmann S., Erbel R., Darius H.: Prediction of rapid versus prolonged healing of infective endocarditis by monitoring vegetation size. J Am Soc Echocardiogr 1991, 4, 465-474.
14. Arnett E.N., Roberts W.C.: Valve ring abscess in active infective endocarditis. Frequency, location and clues to clinical diagnosis from the study of 95 necropsy patients. Circulation 1978, 54, 140-5.
15. Carpenter J.L.: Perivavular extension of infection in patients with infectious endocarditis. Reviews of Infectious Diseases 1991, 13, 127-38.
16. Rohmann S., Seifert T., Erbel R.: Identification of abscess formation in native valve infective endocarditis using transoesophageal echocardiography: implication for surgical treatment. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1991, 39, 273-80.
17. Daniel W.G., Schroder E., Mugge A.: Improvement in the diagnosis of abscesses associated with endocarditis by transesophageal echocardiography. N Eng J Med 1991, 324, 795.
18. Portugese S., Amital H., Tenenbaum A., Dayan Y., Levy Y., Afek A., Shemesh J., Shoenfeld Y.: Clinical characteristics of ruptured chordae tendineae in hospitalized patients: primary tear versus infective endocarditis. Clin Cardiol 1998, 21, 813-816.
19. Senni M., Merlo M., Sangiorgi G., Gamba A., Procopio A., Glauber M., Ferrazzi P.: Mitral valve repair and transesophageal echocardiographic finding in a high-risk subgroup of patients with active, acute infective endocarditis. J Heart Valve Dis 2001, 10, 72-77.
20. Stępińska J., Biederman A., Krzemińska-Pakuła M. et al.: Infekcyjne zapalenie wsierdzia – standardy Polskiego Towarzystwa Kardiologicznego. Kardiol Pol 2000, 35, 456-463.
21. Bloomfield P., Wheatley D.J., Prescott R.J., Miller H.C.: Twelve year comparison of Bjork-Shiley heart valve with porcine bioprostheses. N Eng J Med 1991, 324, 573-9.
22. Daniel W.G., Mugge A., Grote J., Hausmann D., Nikutta P., Laas J., Lichtlen P.R., Martin R.P.: Comparison of transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography for detection of abnormalities of prosthetic and bioprosthetic valves in the mitral and aortic position. Am J Cardiol 1993, 71, 210-215.
23. Fernicola D.J., Roberts W.C.: Frequency of ring abscess and cuspal infection in active infective endocarditis involving bioprosthetic valves. Am J Cardiol 1993, 72, 314-323.
24. Muller-Haake R.C., Minale C., Steinkamp H.J., Bardos P.: The role of echocardiography in the diagnosis of acute infective endocarditis. Eur Heart J 1987, 8 (Suppl J), 293-8.
25. Robert F., Roudaut R., Pepin C., Garrigue S., Labbe T., Bonnet J.: Significance of „strands” on mitral mechanical prostheses during late followup after surgery. Echocardiography 1996, 13, 265-270.
26. Iung B., Cormier B., Dadez E. et al.: Small abnormal echoes after mitral valve replacement with bileaflet mechanical prostheses: predisposing factors and effects on thromboembolism. J Heart Valve Dis 1993, 2, 259-266.