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Despite many novel diagnostic strategies and advances in treatment, infective endocarditis (IE) remains a severe disease. The epidemiology of IE has shifted and staphylococci have replaced streptococci as the most common cause and nosocomially acquired infections, invasive procedures, indwelling cardiac devices and acquired infections due to intravenous drug abuse are more frequent. The incidence of IE has steadily increased in recent years and the patients affected are older and have more comorbidities. The modern treatment of IE is interdisciplinary. The pharmacotherapy of IE depends on the pathogen and its sensitivity. The presence of a bioprosthetic valve and implantable cardiac devices plays a significant role in selection of antibiotics and duration of treatment. This article provides an update and overview of the current clinical practice in diagnostics and pharmacotherapy of IE in adults with a special focus on partial oral therapy and the role of aminoglycosides.

Infective endocarditis is a serious disease that is often diagnosed with a considerable delay in clinical practice and therefore has a high mortality rate; therefore, early diagnosis and antibiotic treatment are extremely important. Epidemiological shifts in the age profile, new risk factors and the increasing use of intravascular prosthetic materials have led to changes in the microbial spectrum and clinical symptoms, which must be taken into account in the diagnostic efforts and therapy. Nonspecific symptoms and the increase in nosocomial endocarditis, especially in critically ill and immunocompromised patients require a high level of diagnostic expertise. With diagnostic algorithms based on guideline recommendations antibiotic treatment has to be initiated as early as possible. For patients with severe infective endocarditis a cardiac surgeon has to be involved from an early stage of the disease as in about 50 % of cases conservative antibiotic therapy alone does not alleviate the infection. Also early surgical treatment should be sought with the onset of complications. After effective treatment and patient survival there will always be an increased risk of suffering from renewed endocarditis. This is taken into account in the new recommendations of the European Society of Cardiology for the prevention of infective endocarditis.

Background and Objective: Despite new guidelines on antibiotic prophylaxis to prevent bacterial endocarditis there is still confusion about the forms of dental procedures requiring antibiotic prophylaxis. Aim of this study was to determine the incidence of bacterial endocarditis following dental procedures in adults with congenital heart disease during a one-year period, and to assess connections with prophylaxis., Patients and Methods: The case notes of all adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) treated in hospital during a one year period were analyzed retrospectively to identify cases of endocarditis, and all adults with CHD admitted to hospital for other reasons than endocarditis were interviewed about their knowledge of antibiotic prophylaxis against bacterial endocarditis., Results: Among the 456 adults with CHD 351 (78%) knew about the need for antibiotic prophylaxis against bacterial endocarditis. Three patients developed endocarditis, in each case after a visit to the dentist. The disease started 11-16 days after dental descaling had been performed without antibiotic covering, one patient developing a brain abscess. The patients had to be treated in the hospital for 42-49 days. Despite presentation by the patient of a leaflet with recommendations for prophylaxis, the dentist refused to give antibiotics., Conclusions: Knowledge of adults with CHD is satisfactory but can still be improved. Even more important is better training of dentists who treat patients with CHD with special emphasis on the specific procedures including dental descaling, which require antibiotic prophylaxis.

Infectious endocarditis remains a serious complication of valvular heart disease, before and after surgery, and is associated with a considerable morbidity and mortality. The incidence of endocarditis in different cardiac diseases, the modern requirements for its diagnosis, with special emphasis on the importance of echocardiography, and the guidelines for prophylaxis are reviewed and comprehensively summarized.

Objective: In a retrospective study, we compared the characteristics of native valve and prosthetic valve endocarditis., Patients and Methods: All 155 cases of left-sided infective endocarditis in 142 patients admitted at our institution between 1986 and 1992 were analyzed based on their medical records. Native valve endocarditis was found in 119 cases (74 men, 45 women; median age 55, range 29 to 80 years), prosthetic valve endocarditis in 36 cases (11 men, 25 women; median age 63, range 38 to 80 years; 29 cases of late infection)., Results: There were more older (P < 0.0005) and more female (P = 0.001) patients with prosthetic valve endocarditis. Most frequently, native aortic valves (53.8%) or mitral prostheses (55.6%) were solely involved. In both groups, Staphylococcus epidermidis was the most frequent isolate followed by Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococci. Symptoms and clinical findings were similar in both groups. In all cases since July 1989, transthoracic echocardiography was suggestive of endocarditis in native valves in 63.9% and in prostheses in 29.2% (P = 0.004), combined with the transesophageal approach in 91.7 and 91.8%, respectively (not significant). Embolism and surgical intervention were about equally frequent in both groups. The in-hospital mortality was 19.3% in native valves and 22.2% in prostheses (not significant)., Conclusion: Native valve and late prosthetic valve endocarditis are now similar in the spectrum of causative microorganisms, echocardiographic diagnostics, clinical course and prognosis.

The course, clinical picture and outcome were compared in 101 patients with infective endocarditis (1975-79, phase III) with our earlier investigations 1947-57 (phase I) and 1961-74 (phase II). An impressive change in this disease was found: - The average age of the patients is higher. - Acute cases and postoperative courses (after valve replacement) are more common and the outcome in these cases is better. Subacute courses are on the decrease. The clinical picture often is oligosymptomatic: - Fever is absent in a quarter, cardiac murmur in nearly a fifth and splenomegaly in four fifths of the patients. - For the first time 5 patients with right-heart endocarditis were observed in phase III. Three of these patients were intravenous drug abusers. The initial clinical picture was misinterpreted as pneumonia or pulmonary embolism. - The most common infective agents were streptococci, followed by staphylococci. The portion of negative blood cultures was strikingly high (35%). - Despite the higher frequency of acute courses, mortality has decreased. Urgent cardiac valve replacement, which has been performed in a fifth of our patients, can prevent irreversible congestive heart failure.