Clinical profile of patients hospitalized for infective endocarditis

Objective: To study the modes of presentation, precursor lesions, complications and other clinical parameters related to infective endocarditis. Study design: Case series Place and duration of study: The study was conducted in the department of Cardiology and in Medical unit 4 at Bahawal Victoria Hospital Bahawalpur from 1^st April 2010 to 30^th September 2012. Methodology: The data was collected regarding the symptoms of the disease, its complications, predisposing factors and the site of involvement. All the patients with a possibility of infective endocarditis were subjected to trans-thoraccic echocardiography. Blood cultures were also sent. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 10. Results: A total of 86 patients were enrolled. In the study population, fever was the most common clinical presentation (87%). Mitral valve was the most commonly affected site (55% of patients). Most of the patients (77%) were having rheumatic valvular heart disease as the precursor lesion. Conclusion: Most of the patients presented with fever. The prevalence of rheumatic heart disease and embolic complications was much higher.