Research in Medicine

 Background: Bacterial endocarditis is a mysterious and dangerous disease in pediatrics. Even with aggressive antibiotic therapy 20-25% and in more serious cases 50-60% mortality rate has been reported.For this reason, this study was designed to evaluate the predisposing factors and conditions influencing the occurrence and the prognosis of this disease.

 Materials and methods: This study of existing data type was performed on 40 patients aged under 14 years, who had definite diagnosis of bacterial endocarditis hospitalized in Medical Centers of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences since 1990 till 1995.

 Results: 60% of the cases were females.Congenital Heart Disease were the most common predisposing factor with prevalence of 60%, where VSD was by far the most common congenital disease predisposing to bacterial endocarditis with the prevalence of 66.6%. Blood culture was positive in 27.5% of the cases with the most common pathogens being Staphylococcus Aureus (36.5%) and Streptococcus Viridance (27.2%). ESR rate of above 20 was observed in 77.5%, Leukocyte count of above 10,000 was reported in 67.5% and CRP was positive in 55% of the cases. The most common" manifested symptoms were fever (97.5%) and heart murmurs 87.5%.

Conclusion: Due to the relative high incidence of congenital heart diseases and their  predisposition to bacterial endocarditic, more attention should be paid to the prevention of  disease.