Clinical Presentation, Etiology, and Outcome of Infective Endocarditis in the 21st Century

We sought to provide a contemporary picture of the presentation, etiology, and outcome of infective endocarditis (IE) in a large patient cohort from multiple locations worldwide.

Prospective cohort study of 2781 adults with definite IE who were admitted to 58 hospitals in 25 countries from June 1, 2000, through September 1, 2005.

The median age of the cohort was 57.9 (interquartile range, 43.2-71.8) years, and 72.1% had native valve IE. Most patients (77.0%) presented early in the disease (