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.
