Table 1.
Clinical characteristics of 40 recruited patients with infective endocarditis.
| Clinical feature | Number (%) |
|---|---|
| Age, y | 56 ± 17 |
| Male | 30 (75) |
| Time from diagnosis to study participation | 12 ± 15 d |
| Type of valve | |
| Native | 26 (65) |
| Prosthetic | 14 (35) |
| Bioprosthetic | 8 |
| Mechanical | 6 |
| Valvular heart disease | 14 (35) |
| Congenital heart disease | 8 |
| Bicuspid aortic valve | 4 |
| Rheumatic heart disease | 1 |
| Degenerative valve | 1 |
| Previous infective endocarditis | 6 (15) |
| Intravenous drug abuse | 4 (10) |
| Affected valve(s) | |
| Mitral | 16 (40) |
| Aortic | 13 (32) |
| Mitral + aortic | 6 (15) |
| Tricuspid ± mitral or aortic | 4 (10) |
| Pulmonary | 1 (3) |
| Organism(s) | |
| Streptococci | 15 (37) |
| Viridans streptococci | 11 |
| Non-viridans streptococci | 4 |
| Staphylococci | 11 (28) |
| Staphylococcus aureus | 8 |
| Coagulase-negative staphylococci | 3 |
| Streptococci + staphylococci | 2 (5) |
| Enterococci | 2 (5) |
| Othera | 7 (17) |
| Culture-negative | 3 (8) |
| Vegetation | |
| Present | 31 (78) |
| Length, mmb | 15 ± 8 |
| Width, mmb | 9 ± 4 |
| Surgery | 25 (63) |
| Replacement | 19 |
| Repair | 5 |
| Replacement + repair | 1 |
| Embolic phenomenac | 15 (38) |
| Cerebral | 8 |
| Splenic | 3 |
| Pulmonary | 2 |
| Spinal | 2 |
| Renal | 2 |
| Heart failure | 12 (30) |
| Death | 9 (23) |
| Composite clinical end-pointd | 30 (75) |
a
Other organisms isolated include Aerococcus urinae, Aerococcus viridans, Gemella sanguinis, Granulicatella adiacens, Haemophilus parainfluenzae, Propionibacterium acnes and Serratia marcescens (n = 1 for each).
b
Vegetation characteristics were determined for 30 subjects.
c
2 subjects had more than one site of embolism.
d
The clinical end-point represents a composite of embolism, heart failure, need for surgery and mortality.