期刊名称：Aktuelnosti iz Neurologije, Psihijatrije i Graničnih Područja
印刷版ISSN：0354-2726
出版年度：2011
卷号：XIX
期号：2
页码：49-53
出版社：Clinical Center of Vojvodina
摘要：Infective endocarditis (IE) is an infection of the endocardial surface of the heart. Th e intrac-ardiac eff ects of this infection include severe valvular insuffi ciency, which may lead to congestive heart failure and many complications. Valvular infections have entered the era of IE caused by increased us-age of intravascular devices and medical procedures. Typically, the diagnosis is made relatively late, compared to the onset of valvular infection. Complications of infective endocarditis result from em-bolization, slowly progressive valvular destruction and various immunological mechanisms. Compli-cations are very frequent in IE, complicating 20–60% of cases of IE. Th e risk of embolism is the highest during the fi rst 2 weeks of antibiotic therapy and is clearly related to the size and mobility of the vegeta-tion. Risk is increased with large vegetations (>10 mm) and particularly high with very mobile and even larger vegetations (>15 mm). Neurological complications develop in 20–40% of all patients with IE and are mainly the consequence of embolization. Rapid diagnosis and initiation of appropriate therapy es-pecially antibiotics are of major importance to prevent a fi rst or recurrent neurological complication.
