The Duke minor criterion "predisposing heart condition" in native valve infective endocarditis - a systematic review.

BACKGROUND The term "predisposition" is used as an indication of antimicrobial prophylaxis to prevent infective endocarditis and as a criterion for diagnosing infective endocarditis according to the modified Duke criteria. The criterion for diagnosing infective endocarditis in native valves is not well defined. OBJECTIVES To identify conditions that increase the risk for infective endocarditis in native valves, for the diagnosis of infective endocarditis according to the modified Duke criteria. In parallel, we compared the results with the year of patient inclusion for each study and echocardiographic techniques. RESULTS Our systematic review included 207 studies published from January 1970 to August 2015. Studies that focused on mitral valve prolapse (112 studies), prior infective endocarditis (96) and bicuspid aortic valve (78) provided the most data. However, only six (5.3%), three (3.1%) and one (1.3%) of these studies, respectively, used analytical statistical methods. Three (2.7%), two (2.1%) and one (1.3%), respectively, were graded as good quality studies. Odds ratios (ORs) for developing infective endocarditis were 3.5­8.2 for mitral valve prolapse, and 2.2 and 2.8 for prior infective endocarditis. The hazard ratio for developing infective endocarditis was 6.3 for bicuspid aortic valve. The mean prevalence proportion of infective endocarditis in patients with these three heart conditions were 8.5% (mitral valve prolapse), 8.3% (prior infective endocarditis) and 8.8% (bicuspid aortic valve). The proportions of publications prior to the publication of the modified Duke criteria were 81.8, 75.6 and 74%, respectively. Evolution of the imaging method and echocardiographic technique was estimated to be considerable for mitral valve prolapse. The literature review on aortic valve stenosis (46 studies), mitral valve insufficiency (41) and aortic valve insufficiency (39) provided two analytical studies for aortic stenosis. One study was graded as good quality and reported a hazard ratio 4.9. The mean prevalence of these heart conditions in patients with infective endocarditis were 7.3, 19.9 and 10.2%, respectively. The proportions of publications prior to the publication of the modified Duke criteria were 78, 75.6 and 79.5%, respectively. The evolution of both the echocardiographic technique and the categorisation of valve disease severity was considerable for all three entities. CONCLUSIONS The evidence for native valve heart conditions predisposing to infective endocarditis is mainly based on studies with only descriptive statistics published prior to the release of the modified Duke criteria. Mitral valve prolapse, prior infective endocarditis and bicuspid aortic valve are frequently cited as predisposing heart conditions for infective endocarditis. The evolution in echocardiographic techniques over the past decades and its influence on diagnosis was considerable for mitral valve prolapse, aortic stenosis, mitral insufficiency and aortic insufficiency.

Infective Endocarditis: How Do We Currently Interpret the Duke Minor Criterion "Predisposing Heart Condition" in Native Valves?

INTRODUCTION: The term "predisposing heart condition" is used as an indication of antimicrobial prophylaxis to prevent infective endocarditis (IE) and as a criterion for diagnosing IE according to modified Duke criteria. The purpose of this survey was to elaborate clinician's knowledge and opinion on relevant heart conditions as a Duke minor criterion for the diagnosis of IE. METHODS: A questionnaire was created that consisted of two knowledge and two opinion questions on the term predisposing heart condition. The survey included results from 318 questionnaires with responses from specialists in the field of internal medicine, infectious diseases, and cardiology. RESULTS: The answers of what participants believed to be currently a Duke minor criterion and what they thought should be minor criterion were very distributed with a median accordance of 33%. CONCLUSION: The survey indicates that there is significant uncertainty regarding what is encountered as a Duke minor criterion predisposing heart condition in a native valve.

Diastolic stress echocardiography in the young: a study in nonathletic and endurance-trained healthy subjects.

BACKGROUND: The response of diastolic Doppler indices to exercise is not well defined for young subjects. The aims of this study were to evaluate this in nonathletic and endurance-trained probands and to correlate echocardiographic data with maximal oxygen consumption. METHODS: In this prospective study, Doppler echocardiography was performed at rest and after exercise in 40 nonathletes (NAs) and 20 endurance-trained athletes (ETs) aged < 40 years, matched for age and gender. Diastolic function was assessed by mitral inflow and early diastolic velocities of the septal (e' septal) and lateral (e' lateral) mitral annulus. Maximal oxygen consumption quantification was performed simultaneously. RESULTS: All cardiac chambers were larger in ETs than NAs. ETs had higher e' lateral at rest (18.1 ± 2.7 vs 16.3 ± 3.3 cm/sec, P = .02) and higher mitral E (141 ± 15 vs 132 ± 15 cm/sec, P = .02) and e' lateral (23.5 ± 2.5 vs 21.4 ± 3.0 cm/sec, P = .01) with exercise than NAs. There was a slight increase in E/e' septal (overall, from 6.8 ± 1.3 to 7.2 ± 1.2; P = .02) and E/e' lateral (overall, from 5.0 ± 0.8 to 6.2 ± 0.9; P < .0001) with exercise. Changes in diastolic parameters with exercise were similar in ETs and NAs. Percentage of predicted maximal oxygen consumption was correlated with exertional E (r = 0.28, P = .03) and e' lateral (r = 0.32, P = .01), but the strongest predictor was indexed left ventricular end-diastolic volume (r = 0.66, P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: During exercise, E/e' increases but remains within normal ranges in healthy young subjects, and the response to exercise does not differ between ETs and NAs. These data help define the normal diastolic stress echocardiographic response in the young. Exercise capacity shows a correlation with enhanced exertional early diastolic velocities but is more closely related to cardiac structural adaption to endurance training.