Infective endocarditis is a life-threatening illness associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Previously a uniformly fatal disease, antibiotic therapy has reduced the mortality of native valve endocarditis to less than 20%. The incidence of infective endocarditis has not decreased, however, and 20,000 new cases are reported each year. Continued improvement in the prognosis of endocarditis is largely dependent on early and accurate diagnosis of the disease and its complications. Echocardiography has assumed an important role in the evaluation of infective endocarditis, both for the detection of vegetations and in the assessment of complications of the infectious process.
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