Skip Navigation


European Heart Journal Advance Access originally published online on July 26, 2007
European Heart Journal 2007 28(19):2307-2312; doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehm278
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
28/19/2307    most recent
ehm278v1
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Nucifora, G.
Right arrow Articles by Fioretti, P. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Nucifora, G.
Right arrow Articles by Fioretti, P. M.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The European Society of Cardiology 2007. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Infective endocarditis in chronic haemodialysis patients: an increasing clinical challenge

Gaetano Nucifora1,*, Luigi P. Badano1, Pierluigi Viale2, Pasquale Gianfagna1, Giuseppe Allocca1, Domenico Montanaro3, Ugolino Livi1 and Paolo M. Fioretti1

1 Cardiopulmonary Science Department, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Udine, P.le S. Maria della Misericordia, 15, 33100 Udine, Italy
2 Clinic of Infective Diseases, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Udine, P.le S. Maria della Misericordia, 15, 33100 Udine, Italy
3 Nephrology and Haemodialysis Unit, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Udine, P.le S. Maria della Misericordia, 15, 33100 Udine, Italy

Received 9 March 2007; revised 19 May 2007; accepted 7 June 2007; online publish-ahead-of-print 26 July 2007.

* Corresponding author. Tel: +39 0432552441; fax: +39 0432482353. E-mail address: gnucifora{at}cardionet.it

Infective endocarditis (IE) in chronic haemodialysis (HD) is significantly more common and causes greater morbidity and mortality than in the general population, being second only to cardiovascular disease as the leading cause of death in this group of patients. Because of the peculiarity of this group of patients, it has been recently proposed to add a fifth category (health-care associated and HD-associated IE) in the actually four categories classification of IE (namely, native valve IE, prosthetic valve IE, IE in e.v. drug users, and nosocomial IE). Given that rates of acceptance into HD are increasing (including a higher proportion of older patients in whom valvular calcification is virtually ubiquitous), and along with improved survival in HD patients, the incidence of IE in this subset of patients will probably increase with significant diagnostic and therapeutic implications. In particular cardiac, diagnostic, echocardiographic, and surgical expertises are required to correctly identify patients at higher risk and who may benefit from surgical treatment. The aim of this review is to clarify the peculiar features of chronic HD patients with regard to pathogenesis, diagnosis, current therapeutic options, and determinants of prognosis of IE.

Key Words: Cardiac surgery • Echocardiography • Haemodialysis • Infective endocarditis • Prognosis


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.