2Department of Cardiology, Faculty of Medicine, Yüzüncü Yıl University, Van-Turkey
3Clinic of Cardiology, Kartal Koşuyolu Education and Research Hospital, İstanbul-Turkey
4Department of Cardiology, Faculty of Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri-Turkey
5Department of Cardiology, Faculty of Medicine, Bülent Ecevit University, Zonguldak-Turkey
6Department of Cardiology, Faculty of Medicine, Cumhuriyet University, Sivas-Turkey
7Department of Cardiology, Faculty of Medicine, Düzce University, Düzce-Turkey
8Department of Cardiology, Faculty of Medicine, Eskişehir Osmangazi University, Eskişehir-Turkey
9Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Dicle University, Diyarbakır-Turkey
Abstract
Objective: The aim of this retrospective multicenter study was to investigate the clinical manifestations, microbiological profile, echocardiographic findings and management strategies of infective endocarditis (IE) in Turkey. Materials and Methods: The study population consisted of 248 Turkish patients with IE treated at 13 major hospitals in Turkey from 2005 to 2012 retrospectively. All hospitals are tertiary referral centers, which receive patients from surrounding hospitals. Data were collected from the medical files of all patients hospitalized with IE diagnosed according to modified Duke Criteria. Results: One hundred thirty seven of the patients were males. Native valves were involved in 158 patients while in 75 participants there was prosthetic valve endocarditis. Vegetations were detected in 223 patients (89%) and 52 patients had multiple vegetations. Mitral valve was the most common site of vegetation (43%). The most common valvular pathology was mitral regurgitation. The most common predisposing factor was rheumatic valvular disease (28%). Positive culture rate was 65%. Staphylococci were the most frequent causative microorganisms isolated (29%) followed by enterococci (11%). In-hospital mortality rate was 33%. Conclusions: Compared to IE in developed countries younger age, higher prevalence of rheumatic heart disease, more frequent enterococci infection and higher rates of culture negativity were other important aspects of IE epidemiology in Turkey.