Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America
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The long-term prognosis of endocarditis is described primarily in relation to clinical outcome measures-for example, such complications as cerebrovascular accident, cardiac failure, need for cardiac surgery, relapse rate, and mortality. To our knowledge, to date, no studies have examined the health-related quality of life and the prevalence of long-term persistence of physical symptoms for survivors of left-sided native valve endocarditis. ⋯ A year after discharge, most survivors of left-sided native valve endocarditis still had persisting symptoms and a seriously diminished quality of life, and 11% of patients suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder.