Infectious endocarditis in France today

Infectious endocarditis (IE) is an uncommon condition carrying a relatively high mortality and morbidity. Two epidemiological studies, undertaken eigh t years apart, provide data allowing an appreciation of changes in the epid emiological and clinical profiles of IE. They show a progressive increase in the age of patients affected by IE and a decrease in percentage of IE on native pathological valves and valvular p rostheses, compensated by the increase in incidence of IE occurring in pati ents with no known underlying cardiac disease. Moreover, there has been a c hange in microbiological profile, with the emergence of Streptococcus bovis and increase in staphylococcal IE, a decrease in IE due to oral streptococ ci and an improvement in microbiological diagnosis with negative blood cult ures. Finally, from the therapeutic point of view, surgery is used more frequentl y and at an earlier stage of the disease. The global mortality of IE at the end of the initial hospital period remains 16%.