Clinical and morphological characteristics of infective endocarditis

Abstract

The aim of the study was to identify the features of the clinical course and morphogenesis of infective endocarditis (IE) in HIVinfected injecting drug users with concomitant hepatitis C virus infection in comparison with the clinical and morphological picture of endocarditis in persons without drug dependence. It was found that the causative agent of IE in HIV-infected patients was staphylococcus aureus (71.8%), and in persons without drug dependence in the etiology of the disease the conditionally pathogenic flora prevailed. In HIV-infected drug-dependent patients, the tricuspid valve was affected (82.7%), and in persons without drug dependence — isolated aortic valve damage (40%) and combined mitral and aorticvalve lesions (36.4%). Purulent sepsis complications in drug-dependent patients with IE are less common than in patients without drug dependence due to immunosuppression, which is present in HIV-infected persons.