Infective Endocarditis

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the heart disease called infective endocarditis (IE). The paper presents the statistics available regarding the amount of deaths caused by heart diseases and claims that infective endocarditis can be held accountable for many of these deaths. The paper reviews an article, "Infective Endocarditis" written by Philippe Moreillon and published in "The Lancet". The paper contends that the purpose of the article is is to help physicians and medical personnel properly identify the new at-risk groups of endocarditis, to teach a method of diagnosing the disease and to provide them with an overall understanding of IE and the new developments in antimicrobial agents.

From the Paper:

"The National Center for Health Statistics, a department of the Center for Disease Control, publishes an annual report on the causes of deaths in the United States. In every study since the start of the program, it was found that diseases of the heart have been the leading cause of death. In the last survey published, the 2001 issue, 245.8 of every 100,000 people, 700,142 total deaths, were caused by heart diseases (3). Infective Endocarditis can be held accountable for many of these deaths. By compiling patient data from 1993-2003, the author of "Infective Endocarditis", Philippe Moreillon, found that the median range of incidence for infective endocarditis was 3.6 per 100,000 people (range .3 - 22.4) with a median mortality rate of 16% (range 11-26). Despite advances in antimicrobial therapy and the diagnosis and treatment of complications, bacterial endocarditis continues to be responsible for substantial morbidity and mortality. Moreillon states that "this apparent paradox results from a progressive change in risk factors for infective endocarditis.""

More papers on Infective Endocarditis:

• Research Paper # 75325 : "Endocarditis"
• Research Paper # 114141 : "Cardiac Surgery"
• Article Review # 146925 : "Preventing Infection - An Article Review"

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