Infective endocarditis (IE) – echocardiographic evaluation Review article
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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.
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