Pulmonary complications of infective endocarditis: a case report

Abstract

Background. Infective endocarditis (IE) is a severe septic disease, with the most frequent localization of the microbial graft on native or prosthetic valves, which causes serious complications and high mortality. The annual incidence of IE is 3-10 cases per 100,000 persons, with an increasing tendency in elderly patients, whereas the overall mortality, according to the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) estimates, is 1 per 100,000 persons, representing 65,000 deaths in 2013 [1,2]. The high mortality of patients with IE is mostly caused by cardiovascular, pulmonary and renal complications. Pulmonary complications occur in 10-65% of cases, more commonly in patients with right sided IE: septic pulmonary embolism, pulmonary infarction, pneumonia, pulmonary abscesses, pleural effusion, empyema, pneumothorax and fungal aneurysms of the pulmonary arteries [3&#93].