Infective Endocarditis

Despite improvements in antibiotic regimens, patients with infective endocarditis (IE) have a high risk of valve replacement and death. Effective initial treatment depends on two steps: 1) diagnosis of the infecting organism, enabling specific antibiotic therapy, and 2) complete characterization of the anatomic extent of infection. Identification of the infecting organism requires culturing of blood prior to the initiation of antibiotics. Whenever possible, at least three sets of blood cultures should be obtained over 6 to 24 hours and held for 4 weeks if necessary to detect unusual or fastidious organisms. Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is usually necessary either to confirm the diagnosis or, most importantly, to identify the local complications of infection, many of which mandate surgery. Despite widespread availability, TEE remains under-used, both for the prevention of unnecessary antibiotic therapy in patients at very low risk for the disease and for the recognition of patients likely to benefit from early surgery. The selection of optimal antibiotic therapy depends on microbiologic data to establish the sensitivities of the specific causative organism. Short courses of antibiotic therapy and outpatient administration of intravenous antibiotics are useful in selected cases.