Infective endocarditis in patients with congenital heart disease

Abstract

Introduction. The congenital heart disease (CHD) has become a major risk factor for infective endocarditis (IE) due to a large number of children with CHD that survive until adulthood. The incidence of IE in children with CHD is reported to be approximately 4.1 cases per 10000 persons/year, but in adults – 11 per 10000 patients/year with a marked variation between different types of CHD. The progress in diagnostic and surgical field, as well as the use of intracardiac devices and prosthetic materials increases the risk of associated infections and developing IE. As for causative pathogens, streptococci species predominates over the staphylococci species.