Consensus Statement on Infective Endocarditis / Abridged Version

Abstract

Infective endocarditis (IE) is still an important clinical challenge. Despite progress in diagnostic imaging techniques, the diagnosis of IE is still mostly based on medical criterion, especially on clinical suspicion. The Area of Regulations and Consensuses of the Argentine Society of Cardiology asked an expert panel to update the Consensus Statement on Infective Endocarditis. The spirit of the resulting document is to show the updated scenario of IE, with recommendations aimed at optimizing the diagnosis and treatment, expecting to generate a useful tool for our colleagues in dealing with this complex condition. In particular, the experience obtained in our country over the past 20 years with the Endocarditis Infecciosa en la República Argentina studies (EIRA 1 and 2) was taken into account, together with the relevant scientific information and the recommendations provided by other societies. The final complete version with the corresponding references is available in the website of the Argentine Society of Cardiology