Gagliardi et al identified risk factors associated with increased mortality in a patient with native valve infective endocarditis. The authors are from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.
Significant risk factors for mortality:
(1) cerebral infarction (stroke, as an embolic phenomenon)
(2) renal failure (defined as either need for hemodialysis or increase in serum creatinine from <= 1.2 mg/dL at baseline to > 2.0 mg/dL)
Other factors identified on age-controlled logistic regression analysis but with high p value:
(1) heart failure (but this was not graded as mild, moderate or severe)
(2) myocardial infarction (a possible embolic phenomenon)
One of the main conclusions of the paper was that age was not an indication of poor outcome, and that anyone with native valve infective endocarditis should receive early and aggressive therapy regardless of age.
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