Infective endocarditis presentations during the COVID-19 pandemic: have they paid an untold toll?

: COVID-19 caused restrictions and re-allocation of medical resources among all healthcare services. During the peak of the pandemic, several unrelated-yet critical-conditions had silently taken their toll. Infective endocarditis (IE), owing to its non-specific clinical presentation, may have been largely mislabeled as COVID-19 in a number of cases.

Incremental value of P-wave indices for predicting left atrial dysfunction in patients with primary mitral regurgitation using speckle tracking echocardiography.

The correlation of P wave indices on surface ECG and phasic LA dysfunction in patients with significant primary mitral regurgitation (MR) due to the adverse LA adaptive structural and functional changes needs to be more studied. This study aims to investigate the diagnostic value of P wave indices to predict LA function assessed both by volumetric analysis using 3-dimensional (3D)echocardiography, and by strain analysis using speckle tracking echocardiography. (STE).

Beta-Hemolytic Streptococcal Infective Endocarditis: Characteristics and Outcomes From a Large, Multinational Cohort.

Background: Beta-hemolytic streptococci (BHS) are an uncommon cause of infective endocarditis (IE). The aim of this study was to describe the clinical features and outcomes of patients with BHS IE in a large multinational cohort and compare them with patients with viridans streptococcal IE.

Methods: The International Collaboration on Endocarditis Prospective Cohort Study (ICE-PCS) is a large multinational database that recruited patients with IE prospectively using a standardized data set.

Gender differences in clinical features and complications of infective endocarditis: 11-year experience of a single institute in Egypt.

Background: No data exists about the gender differences among patients with infective endocarditis (IE) in Egypt. The objective was to study possible gender differences in clinical profiles and outcomes of patients in the IE registry of a tertiary care center over 11 years.

Results: The IE registry included 398 patients with a median age of 30 years (interquartile range, 15 years); 61.

Clinical features and outcomes of infective endocarditis in Egypt: an 11-year experience at a tertiary care facility.

Background: Few data are available on the characteristics of infective endocarditis (IE) cases in Egypt. The aim of this work is to describe the characteristics and outcomes of IE patients and evaluate the temporal changes in IE diagnostic and therapeutic aspects over 11 years.

Results: The IE registry included 398 patients referred to the Endocarditis Unit of a tertiary care facility with the diagnosis of possible or definite IE.

Pericardial effusion in prosthetic and native valve infective endocarditis.

Background: Pericardial effusion (PE) is widely believed to signify more advanced infective endocarditis (IE) and a generally worse outcome.

Purpose: To determine the prevalence and clinical significance of PE in a series of patients with confirmed native and prosthetic valve infections.

Methods: Data were collected from 338 consecutive patients with definite or possible IE who visited a single referral center; these patients were examined for the presence of PE as detected by transthoracic echocardiography.

Impact of routine cerebral CT angiography on treatment decisions in infective endocarditis.

Background: Infective endocarditis (IE) is commonly complicated by cerebral embolization and hemorrhage secondary to intracranial mycotic aneurysms (ICMAs). These complications are associated with poor outcome and may require diagnostic and therapeutic plans to be modified. However, routine screening by brain CT and CT angiography (CTA) is not standard practice.