[Echocardiography--prognosis of the course of infectious endocarditis and long-term survival in this disease].

Aim: To determine prognostic opportunities of echocardiography (ECG) in infectious endocarditis (IE) basing on the assessment of microbial vegetations size and degree of valvular failure.

Material And Methods: Of 114 patients with definite IE (72 male, 42 female), 90 ones had primary and 24 secondary endocarditis. The prospective study included all the survivors in the IE active stage--78 patients.

Results: Vegetations > 1 cm in size were detected in 50.8% patients, < 1 cm--in 49.2%. Hospital lethality in vegetations > 1 cm and < 1 cm was 25.8 and 16.1%, respectively. Thromboembolism rate was 81 and 64.2%, respectively. One-year survival was 78.7 and 71.4%, two-year survival 66.5 and 61.7%, three-year survival 66.5 and 49.4%, five-year survival--51.7 and 32.9% in vegetations < 1 cm and > 1 cm, respectively. Valvular regurgitation of the first degree was in 17.5%, of the second degree--in 41.9%, third-fourth degree--in 36.6% patients. Hospital lethality in mitral valve failure was 32.1%, in aortic and tricuspid failure--17.8 and 11.4%, respectively.

Conclusion: EchoCG was most effective for predicting thromboembolism and cardiac failure. Valvular regurgitation of the third-fourth degree significantly correlates with severe cardiac failure. ECG is less informative for predicting hospital lethality.