Role of echocardiographic findings in patients with infective endocarditis [İnfektif endokarditli hastanin yönlendirilmesinde ekokardiyografik Bulgularin yeri]

Infective endocarditis (IE) carries a high risk of morbidity and mortality. Rapid diagnosis, effective treatment, and early diagnosis of complications are necessary for good patient outcome. The variability in the clinical presentation of IE requires diagnostic criteria which are both sensitive for disease detection and specific for its exclusion. With the Duke criteria it has been realised that echocardiographic findings carries high importance in the diagnosis of IE. Four typical echocardiographic findings which are vegetation, abscess dehiscence of prosthetic valve, new valvular regurgitation, should be looked for in patients having suspicion of IE. In association with clinical symptoms these echocardiographic findings are the most powerful predictors of IE. Different studies have demonstrated that echocardiographic examination is not only useful in prompt and definite diagnosis but also it is necessary to determine effective treatment and to detect possible complications. The characteristic features of echocardiographic findings are closely related to the prognosis. During the assessment of echocardiographic predictors, detection of abcesses, fistulae, prosthetic valve dehiscence, obstructive vegetations, flail leaflets and heart failure are of high importance. Most of these complications cannot resolve with medical therapy alone, and surgical intervention can be needed. In brief, echocardiographic findings are of high importance in the diagnosis of IE, in determining the therapy which should be chosen, as well as in predicting morbidity and mortality.