Current diagnosis of infective endocarditis.

An analysis was made of 91 cases of infective endocarditis (IE) with regard to causative organisms and their sensitivities to various antibiotics, the clinical features of the disease, the laboratory test results and other items were important in establishing a diagnosis of IE. The number of cases of IE has shown a tendency to increase in recent years, particularly in the number of elderly patients, and the ratio of total cases consisting of prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE) has shown a sharp increase. The most common causative organism is still Streptococcus viridans, but there has been an increase in the incidence of IE due to benzyl-penicillin-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus faecalis and other fastidious organisms. The percentage of underlying diseases represented by combined valvular diseases has been increasing, while the primary known cause of the infection of IE was dental treatments. A positive value for CRP, an accelerated value for ESR, leukocytosis, anemia, a decrease in serum Fe, a positive value for RA-T, were all parameters which showed a high correlation with IE, and these should be useful in establishing the diagnosis of IE. The use of cardioechography to detect cardiac vegetation is important in relation to establishing the diagnosis and prognosis of IE, and the evaluation of the therapeutic results.