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.