Echocardiographic manifestations of infective endocarditis complicated with valve damage in children
Objective To observe the echocardiographic manifestations of infective endocarditis(IE)complicated with valve damage in children.Methods Totally 104 children with IE were retrospectively enrolled and divided into non-damage group(n=34),mild damage group(n=39)and dysfunction group(n=31)according to whether complicated with valve damage and damage's degree.The general and echocardiographic data were compared among groups,and the echocardiographic characteristics of IE complicated with valve damage in children were analyzed.Results Significant difference of the proportion of combining with other congenital heart diseases(excluding bicuspid aortic malformations),the incidence of embolization events during hospital stay,also of endocarditis of left cardiac system were found among groups(all P<0.05).Pairwise comparison showed that in non-damage group,the proportion of combining with other congenital heart diseases was higher,while the incidence of endocarditis of left cardiac system was lower than those in both mild damage group and dysfunction group(all P<0.05).The incidence of embolization events during hospital stay in non-damage group was lower than that in dysfunction group(P<0.05).Among 70 cases of IE complicated with valve damage,mitral valve(30/70,42.86%)was the most common involved valve,mostly presented as valve stenosis(63/70,90.00%).No significant difference of valve involvement site,valve structural lesions nor the incidence of valve stenosis was found between mild damage group and dysfunction group(all P>0.05).Conclusion IE complicated with valve damage in children mostly involved left cardiac system,and the risk of embolization events was higher than that of IE children without valve damage.Echocardiography could be used as an important method for evaluating the site of valve involvement and the degree of damage.