title: Not So EASE-Y: How Often do Hospitalized Infective Endocarditis Patients Meet Criteria for Early Surgery?
abstract: Infective endocarditis (IE) has historically caused significant morbidity and mortality. Valve surgery reduces systemic embolization and mortality, but the optimal timing is controversial. The EASE (Early Surgery Versus Conventional Treatment for Infective Endocarditis) trial, which employed strict inclusion and exclusion criteria, showed that early surgery could reduce the risk of embolic events for a subset of patients. The aim of the present study was to determine the proportion of adult IE patients seen in usual clinical practice at a single tertiary medical center that would meet EASE enrollment criteria. Over a four-year period, only 10 of 88 patients (11.3%) were found to meet EASE enrollment criteria. These results have important research implications, and highlight the differences between populations of patients used in clinical trials and patients seen in practice.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Disease, Baystate Medical Center, Springfield, MA.|Tufts University School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, MA.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Amin Kashef
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Disease, Baystate Medical Center, Springfield, MA.|Tufts University School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, MA.
authors.forename: Auras R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Atreya
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Disease, Baystate Medical Center, Springfield, MA.|Tufts University School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, MA.
authors.forename: Jaime
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hernandez-Montfort
authors.affiliation: Division of Academic Affairs, Baystate Medical Center, Springfield, MA.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Frideric
authors.affiliation: Tufts University School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, MA.|Division of Hospital Medicine, Department of Medicine, Baystate Medical Center, Springfield, MA.|Center for Quality of Care Research, Baystate Medical Center, Springfield, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Tara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lagu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004452:Echocardiography; D004696:Endocarditis; D004697:Endocarditis, Bacterial / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D061665:Time-to-Treatment; D016896:Treatment Outcome