Infective endocarditis in children. A seven-year experience.

Eighteen children with infective endocarditis were detected over seven years. Fever, gastrointestinal and chest symptoms were striking features. Anaemia, elevated leukocyte count and sedimentation rate were constant laboratory findings. Strep. Viridans and Staph. Aureus were the commonest organisms isolated. We concluded that rheumatic and congenital heart disease are equally important in predisposition to infective endocarditis.