Characterization of patients with infectious endocarditis from a town in Boyaca, Colombia

A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Infectious endocarditis (IE) is a multisystemic disease caused by an infection, generally bacterial, of the endocardial surface. Its incidence is three to nine cases per 100,000 persons.

Objective: to characterize the patients with a diagnosis of infectious endocarditis seen at the Hospital Universitario San Rafael de Tunja.

Materials and methods: a descriptive observational study. Patients seen at the Hospital Universitario San Rafael de Tunja between January 1, 2010 and January 1, 2019. Sociodemographic, clinical, paraclinical, imaging, treatment and outcome variables were gathered.

Results: a total of 87 persons with a confirmed diagnosis of infectious endocarditis were seen. The average age was 38.77 years, with an SD ± 13.32 years. Leukocytosis was seen in 90%, neutrophilia in 85%, lymphocytosis in 3%, thrombocytopenia in 4%, elevated serum CRP in 85%, transaminitis in 45%, hyponatremia in 2% and hypernatremia in 4%. All patients received antibiotic treatment; only 23% required surgery.

Conclusions: this case series found similar clinical and microbiological characteristics to those reported in other national and international studies. Males were affected more often than females, with the main etiological agent being Staphylococcus aureus. Fever and infectious vasculitis signs were the main clinical manifestations, most often affecting the mitral valve