Infective endocarditis: a frequent disease in dialysis patients

Abstract

The epidemiological profile of infective endocarditis (IE) has changed dramatically over the last few years [ 1]. Once a disease affecting young adults with previously well identified valve disease (mostly rheumatic disease), IE is now affecting older patients, a significant proportion of whom have no previously known valve disease and develop IE as the result of health-care associated procedures [ 2]. Actually, if IE was commonly classified in four categories, namely native valve IE, prosthetic valve IE, IE in i.v. drug users (IVDUs), and nosocomial IE, health-care associated IE should probably be added as a fifth category in the near future because of its increasing incidence. Within this new category, IE in chronic haemodialysis (HD) patients appears to be the most important subgroup [ 3, 4].