title: Infective endocarditis in Europe: lessons from the Euro heart survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the characteristics, treatment, and outcomes of active infective endocarditis (IE) in Europe.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective survey of medical practices in Europe.
  
  
  METHODS
  92 centres from 25 countries.
  
  
  METHODS
  The EHS (Euro heart survey) on valvar heart disease (VHD) enrolled 5001 adult patients between April and July 2001. Of those, 159 had active IE.
  
  
  RESULTS
  118 patients (74%) had native IE and 41 (26%) had prosthetic IE. Mean (SD) age was 57 (16) years. Blood cultures were obtained for 113 patients (71%) before antibiotic treatment was started. Surgery was performed in 52% of patients. Reasons for surgery were heart failure in 60%, persistent sepsis in 40%, vegetation size in 48%, or embolism in 18%. Surgery was for implantation of mechanical prosthesis in 63%, bioprosthesis in 21%, aortic homograft in 5%, and valve repair in 11%. In-hospital mortality was 12.6%, being 10.4% in the medical group and 15.6% in the surgical group. Among the total population of 5001 patients, only 50% of those with native VHD had been educated on endocarditis prophylaxis and only 33% regularly attended dental follow up. Of patients with IE who had had a procedure at risk during the preceding year only 50% had received adequate prophylaxis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The EHS on VHD shows that patients with active IE have a high risk profile and often undergo surgery. However, there are deficiencies in obtaining blood cultures and applying prophylaxis. Mortality remains high, which is a justification for the improvement of patient management through education and the implementation of guidelines.
authors.affiliation: Hospital Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain. ptornos@vhebron.net <ptornos@vhebron.net>
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tornos
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Iung
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Permanyer-Miralda
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Baron
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Delahaye
authors.forename: Ch
authors.initials: Ch
authors.lastname: Gohlke-Bärwolf
authors.forename: E G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Butchart
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ravaud
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vahanian
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004697:Endocarditis, Bacterial / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D019918:Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents