Table 2. Comparison of clinical, laboratory, and imaging characteristics of pediatric infective endocarditis case-patients by causative pathogen, Israel, 1994–2019*.
| Characteristic | Kingella, n = 19 (32%) | Non-Kingella, n = 41 (68%) | p value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Temperature, °C, median (IQR) | 40 (39.45–40) | 39 (38.6–39.8) | 0.003 |
| Fever duration before admission, d, median (IQR) | 7 (4.50–14) | 6 (3–14) | 0.43 |
| Hepatosplenomegaly | 4 (21) | 24 (58) | 0.015 |
| Oral aphthae | 5 (26) | 0 (0) | 0.003 |
| Ocular findings | 1 (5) | 8 (19) | 0.294 |
| Systemic emboli | 7 (37) | 14 (34) | 1 |
| Pulmonary emboli | 0 (0.0) | 2 (5) | 0.837 |
| Seizures | 3 (16) | 6 (15) | 1 |
| New onset murmur | 7 (37) | 10 (24) | 0.492 |
| Conduction disturbance | 1 (5) | 2 (5) | 1 |
| Microhematuria | 5 (26) | 23 (56) | 0.061 |
| Leukocyte count K/mL, mean (SD) | 20.87 (+ 12.39) | 16.39 (+ 9.58) | 0.131 |
| Neutrophils K/mL, mean (SD) | 12.98 (+ 8.49) | 12.43 (+ 8.67) | 0.821 |
| Lymphocytes K/mL, mean (SD) | 4.27 (+ 3.04) | 2.21 (+ 1.81) | 0.002 |
| NLR, mean (SD) | 4.7 (6.71) | 10.7 (11.3) | 0.055 |
| Hemoglobin, mean (SD) | 10.00 (+ 1.36) | 10.39 (+ 2.27) | 0.489 |
| Platelets (100 K/mL), mean (SD) | 220.16 (+ 203.30) | 243.85 (+ 178.53) | 0.649 |
| C-reactive protein, mean (SD) | 12.56 (+ 6.79) | 12.49 (+ 10.75) | 0.979 |
| ESR, mean (SD) | 65.92 (+ 38.86) | 64.19 (+ 34.34) | 0.89 |
| No. positive blood cultures, median (IQR) | 1 (1–2) | 4 (3–5) | <0.001† |
| Time to eradication, d, median (IQR) |
2 (2–3) |
3 (2–5) |
0.017 |
| Echocardiography | |||
| Mural thrombus | 1 (5) | 2 (5) | 1 |
| Reduced ventricular function | 4 (21) | 11 (27) | 0.873 |
| Vegetation | 12 (63) | 20 (49) | 0.447 |
| Left-sided involvement‡ |
12 (80) |
15 (65) |
0.297 |
| Major Duke criteria | |||
| Culture | 7 (37) | 40 (98) | <0.001 |
| Echocardiography |
16 (84) |
23 (56) |
0.067 |
| Minor Duke criteria | |||
| Fever | 19 (100) | 39 (95) | 0.837 |
| Congenital heart disease | 10 (52) | 31 (76) | 0.138 |
| Vascular | 8 (42) | 14 (34) | 0.759 |
| Immunologic | 0 (0) | 9 (22) | 0.068 |
| Blood culture |
11 (58) |
1 (2) |
<0.001 |
| Summary | |||
| Definite | 14 (74) | 30 (73) | 0.768 |
| Possible | 5 (23) | 11 (27) | 0.768 |
*Values are no. (%) except as indicated. All laboratory results are at admission apart from temperature, which we recorded as the highest in the 24 h before admission. ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; IQR, interquartile range; NLR, neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio. †By Mann–Whitney test. ‡Percentage of left-sided involvement in patients with echocardiographic findings.