[Diagnostic criteria of infectious endocarditis]

Accurate diagnostic criteria for infective endocarditis are essential to epidemiological studies. The von Reyn's criteria have been widely used for more than a decade after they were published in 1981. In 1994, the Duke's criteria for the clinical diagnosis of infective endocarditis were published, incorporating echocardiographic findings. They are modeled after the Jones criteria for the identification of cases of rheumatic fever and include 2 major and 6 minor diagnostic criteria. They are about twice as specific as the former von Reyn's criteria, without loss of specificity, and should become a standard reference for diagnosing infective endocarditis.