[Infective endocarditis in children. Apropos of 13 cases]

From 1978 through 1987, thirteen pediatric patients aged 14/12 years to 16/12 years were hospitalized for infective endocarditis (IE). Ten cases presented as acute septicemia with modification or development of a murmur and/or heart failure. Three patients had subacute endocarditis. Prior to the endocarditis, ten patients had recognized heart disease, whereas three had no known cardiac abnormality. The organism was recovered in seven cases, from blood cultures in six cases (3 Staphylococcus aureus, 1 group D streptococcus, 1 Staphylococcus albus, and 1 Salmonella typhi) and from a prosthesis in one case (Corynebacterium). Echocardiography confirmed the diagnosis in every patient except the one that had a prosthesis. Although all the patients received parenteral antimicrobial therapy, selected according to bacteriologic data when available, complications developed in every case, including heart failure in nine patients. Three children died, eight underwent valve replacement or repair once the infection was under control, and two have residual valvular disease. This study confirms that, in pediatric patients, the prognosis of IE remains severe despite advances in antimicrobial therapy and the contribution of echocardiography.