• J C Castillo Domínguez, M P Anguita Sánchez, A Ramírez Moreno, J R Siles Rubio, F Torres Calvo, D Mesa Rubio, M Franco Zapata, I Muñoz Carvajal, M Concha Ruiz, and F Vallés Belsué.
• Servicio de Cardiología, Hospital Universitario Reina Sofía de Córdoba.
• Rev Esp Cardiol. 2000 Mar 1; 53 (3): 344-52.

Introduction And ObjectivesInfective endocarditis is a disease with a high morbimortality during the active phase and a considerable risk of complications during follow-up. The aim of our study is to describe the clinical and prognostic features of infective endocarditis in non-drug addict patients in short and long terms.Patients And MethodsA prospective study of 138 cases of infective endocarditis in non-drug addict patients through the parenteral pathway treated in our institution from 1987 to 1997.ResultsThe mean age was 44 +/- 20 years. Ninety-five patients (69%) had native valve infective endocarditis and forty-three (31%) had prosthetic valve endocarditis. Streptococci were the causal microorganism in 34% and staphylococci in 33%. 83% of patients developed some type of complications during hospital stay. 51% of patients were operated on during the active phase (22% were urgent). The in-hospital mortality rate was 21%. 10 patients (9%) needed late cardiac surgery and seven patients (5%) died during follow-up. Global survival at 10 years was 71%. There were no statistical differences in survival in as much as the type of treatment received during the hospital stay in the active phase (medical alone or combined medical-surgical).ConclusionsA high early surgery rate in the active phase related to good long-term results and does not increase early in-hospital mortality. Medical treatment also offers good long-term results in cases of infectious endocarditis with absence of bad prognostic factors and good clinical outcome.

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