Infective Endocarditis: Indian Scenario

Despite the improved preventive strategies, rational antibiotic prescribing, advances in imaging and increasing use of early lifesaving cardiac surgery, the incidence of IE remains still high at 1.7–6.2 per 100,000 person years in the USA and Europe, with a 1-year mortality approaching 40%.3 The incidence (11.6/100,000) increases in certain areas where IVDAss are common. But, such estimates from India are not available. Neither the incidence nor the mortality has declined significantly, but the pattern of IE appears to be changing globally. The median age of the patients has gradually increased from the fourth decade in the early antibiotic era to the sixth and seventh decade recently. In the European heart survey, 26% were older than 70 years.4 ln the Indian scenario; still it is common in younger age groups. A study by Garg N et al. in Indian patients during the last decade indicates that 76% of the patients with IE were younger than 40 years (median age 27.6 ± 12 years).5 Infective Endocarditis: Indian Scenario