Changing spectrum of infective endocarditis in children: a 30 years experiences from a tertiary care center in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: The epidemiology of infective endocarditis (IE) changes with the medical advances. This study aimed to evaluate the trends in a pediatric cohort.

METHODS: From hospital database (1983-2011), patients <18 years who fulfilled the modified Duke criteria of IE were identified.

RESULTS: We enrolled 112 patients (M/F 57/55) with 116 IE episodes. About 86 patients (74.1%) had preexisting cardiac lesions and 23 patients (19.6%) were immunocompromised hosts. Prior dental procedure was noted in 12 (10.3%) patients, including 4 with simple ventricular septal defect. The overall mortality was 10.7%. The risk factors included vegetations in both ventricles (odds ratio = 7.81, P = .019) and prior use of broad-spectrum antibiotics (odds ratio = 3.75, P = .055). Approximately one-third of the patients (29.3%) required surgical intervention. We identified an increasing trend in the proportion of hospital-acquired IE (from 12% during 1983-1991 to 39% during 2002-2011), and the spectrum of offending pathogens showed a trend for fewer Streptococcus species, more Staphylococcus aureus and increased pathogen diversity. The leading pathogens were Gram-negative bacilli in hospital-acquired IE and Streptococcus species in community-acquired IE. Hospital-acquired IE was associated with younger age, a higher proportion of immunocompromised patients, a history of central line indwelling and higher mortality. In contrast, more surgical intervention and embolic events occurred in community-acquired IE patients.

CONCLUSIONS: The mortality of pediatric IE remains high. Dental procedures were noted in one-tenth of the patients. Although increased S. aureus-caused episodes and pathogen diversity were noted, Streptococcus species remain the most common pathogen.