Clinical Features of Patients with Infective Endocarditis in Emergency Department

OpenAlex İngilizce

Objective: Infective endocarditis (IE) is a rare but life-threatening multisystem disease that results from infection of the endocardial surface of the heart.IE manifests with varied and uncommon symptoms so it is a tricky situation for emergency physicians; our goal is to present the clinical features and course of IE patients in emergency department.Methods: This study was conducted retrospective and descriptive study was between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2019.Patients aged over 18 years and diagnosed with definite IE or possible IE according to the modified Duke criteria were enrolled in the study.We statistically analyse the difference between non-survivors and survivors groups for age, gender, symptoms, co-existing conditions, laboratory and imaging results and IE related complications and surgical intervention.Results: Twenty-nine patients enrolled in the study 20 patients (69%) were admitted with definite IE, and 9 patients (31%) met just possible IE diagnosis according to modified Duke's criteria.Five (17%) patients died from IE and related complications.Staphylococcus aureus subspecies are the prominent agents in the blood culture results.Twenty five of patients (86%) had significant echocardiographic findings.Mitral and aortic valves the most affected parts of the endocardial surface in our study.Conclusion: IE should be considered in patients with fever and predisposing heart conditions.IE related complications may change the course of the disease.Surgical intervention reduces the mortality rate so that it is beneficial for selected patients.