Abstract

This study retrospectively investigated the epidemiology, treatment and outcome of infective endocarditis (IE) in People's Liberation Army (PLA) General Hospital from 1997-2007. Totally, 65 cases were included. The results showed that bacteria were isolated from 63.08% of the IE cases. Staphylococcus was the main pathogen causing IE (43.9%), followed by Streptococcus (41.5%). Surgical treatment was performed for 81.5% (53/65) of the IE patients. The most common surgery was aortic valve replacement conducted for 58.18% of the IE patients. Six patients (9.23%) died during hospitalization. Antimicrobial agents including penicillin, vancomycin and quinolones were most frequently utilized. We concluded that early diagnosis, timely surgery and appropriate utilization of antibiotics can improve the prognosis of IE patients.

Key words: Infective endocarditis (IE), clinical features, epidemiology.