Association between HACEK bacteraemia and endocarditis

We retrospectively examined medical records of 87 patients with bacteraemia caused by members of the HACEK group (Haemophilus parainfluenzae, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Aggregatibacter aphrophilus, Aggregatibacter paraphrophilus, Cardiobacterium spp., Eikenella corrodens and Kingella spp.) to determine whether endocarditis was present, as defined by the Duke criteria. The overall positive predictive value (PPV) of HACEK bacteraemia for endocarditis was 60 %. The PPV varied with different HACEK species from 0 % (E. corrodens) to 100 % (A. actinomycetemcomitans).