Radiological awareness of current recommendations on prophylaxis of infective endocarditis

In 1982 the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy produced a report recommending that all patients with a prosthetic heart valve should receive prophylactic antibiotics prior to any procedure likely to cause a transient bacteraemia. This includes barium enema and genitourinary tract instrumentation. A postal survey of 38 radiology departments has shown that there is very poor awareness of this report and of its implications for radiology departments and suggestions are made as to how this may be improved.