[Infective endocarditis in patients on program hemodyalisis].

Ten (1.8%) out of 558 patients with end-stage chronic renal failure on program hemodialysis developed infective endocarditis (IE). The average length of hemodialysis before IE was 17.0 +/- 14.5 months. The main cause of IE was infection of the site of vascular approaches. The diagnosis was difficult; Duke criteria modified by J. Li et al. (2000) allowed evidenced diagnosis of IE only in 30% of cases, while modified criteria offered by the authors did it in 50% of cases. The article discusses rational antibacterial therapy. Hospital lethality in IE is as high as 50%.