Should Acute Q-Fever Patients be Screened for Valvulopathy to Prevent Endocarditis?

ABSTRACT: Background:Echocardiographic screening of acute Q-fever patients and antibiotic prophylaxis for patients with cardiac valvulopathy is considered an important approach to prevent chronic Q-fever-related endocarditis. During a large Q-fever epidemic in the Netherlands, routine screening echocardiography was discontinued, raising controversy in the international literature. We followed a cohort of acute Q-fever patients to estimate the risk for developing chronic Q-fever, and we evaluated the impact of screening in patients who were not yet known to have a valvulopathy. Methods:The study population consisted of patients diagnosed with acute Q-fever in 2007 and 2008. We retrospectively reviewed all screening echocardiographs and checked for development of chronic Q-fever 8 years after the acut

SUBMITTER: de Lange MMA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6051461 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature