Arq. Bras. Cardiol. 2021; 116(4): 692-694
Managing Patients with Infectious Endocarditis and Neurological Complication — The Big Dilemma that Persists Until these Days
Claudio Querido Fortes
, Natália Rodrigues Querido Fortes
This Short Editorial is referred by the Research article "Neurological Complications in Patients with Infective Endocarditis: Insights from a Tertiary Centre".
Endocarditis is an extremely challenging disease, both regarding diagnosis and due to the diversity of its presentation, as well as its management, which requires an endocarditis team including professionals from different specialties. An infectious disease specialist, clinical microbiologist, cardiologist, cardiac surgeon, neurologist and imaging specialist are of the essence, and assistance from other specialists is also desirable depending on each case. Its incidence has been increasing in recent decades, especially due to population aging, the growing number of individuals undergoing renal replacement therapy, the higher frequency of patients with prosthetic valves and cardiac electrical devices and also due to the technological advances in invasive diagnostic and therapeutic methods, in addition to the current “epidemic” of recreational intravenous drugs, which have become a serious public health problem in some countries. Despite all the progress made in the diagnosis and treatment of endocarditis, its mortality remains alarmingly high. The persistence of this high mortality may be partially explained by the increase in the number of older fragile patients with multiple comorbidities and patients with prostheses.
The main objectives of the article “ Neurological Complications in Patients with Infective Endocarditis: Insights from a Tertiary Centre” are to evaluate the predictors of neurological complications in patients with infective endocarditis, the predictors of mortality in this group, and to compare the results of clinical treatment with a general practitioner and a surgeon, both among the study population, and stratifying the group of patients with neurological complications.
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