Abstract
Infectious endocarditis, though relatively infrequent, remains a life-threatening infection that occurs across the spectrum of patient age, race, and sex. Some physical findings are classic, though most diagnoses are made in the setting of high clinical suspicion prompting blood cultures and echocardiography. Common pathogens causing infective endocarditis include S. aureus, streptococci, coagulase-negative staphylococci, and gram-negative bacilli (including the HACEK organisms). Empiric antibiotic therapy for infective endocarditis should begin only after blood cultures are drawn to ensure that the causative organism can be identified and subsequently targeted for treatment. Approximately 50% of all patients with infective endocarditis may require some form of surgical intervention.
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Ricketts, J., Jacob, J.T. (2020). Infective Endocarditis. In: Wells, B., Quintero, P., Southmayd, G. (eds) Handbook of Inpatient Cardiology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47868-1_15
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