ENDOCARDITIS

The continuing medical literature attests to the fact that infective endocarditis is a serious and complex disease, which in many populations continues to occur at an incidence of approximately 20 per 100,000, and carries a 5% to 40% mortality, depending on numerous pathogen and patient factors. Clinical investigation continues along several lines, including analysis of the clinical utility of diagnostic imaging, especially the contribution of transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography (and, conversely, the risk of endocarditis from transesophageal imaging). Epidemiological and cohort descriptive studies give insight into the underlying causes of the disease, and risk factors for poor outcome, from which guidelines for management can be surmised.