Radiography Chest The chest radiograph is used to determine cardiac chamber size and the presence and severity of pulmonary venous hypertension and edema. It is also used to monitor the severity of the hemodynamic consequences of valvular regurgitation caused by infective endocarditis and to assess the response to treatment. In right-sided endocarditis, the chest radiograph may be effective in demonstrating pulmonary infarcts and abscesses as sequelae of septic emboli. US Echocardiography Transthoracic Resting TTE resting plays an important role in the evaluation of infective endocarditis and is currently the only imaging criterion included in the modified Duke criterion used for a diagnosis of infective endocarditis [39]. It can demonstrate vegetations on cardiac valves, valvular regurgitation, and paravalvular abscess. It is the most frequently used imaging study for confirming the diagnosis of infective endocarditis. The demonstration of vegetations by echocardiography is 1 of the 2 major modified Duke criteria required for the diagnosis of a definite endocarditis [39,40]. Studies show that criteria for the diagnosis, which include the findings on TTE [40,41], were significantly better than traditional criteria based on clinical and bacteriologic criteria. Several studies evaluated the diagnostic value of TTE and TEE in relation to the pretest probability of infective endocarditis based on clinical assessment in pediatric [42] and adult [43] patients. These studies concluded that Infective Endocarditis TTE has a lower yield in patients with low probability of endocarditis. TEE is the procedure of choice for patients with intermediate or high probability of endocarditis. In right-sided endocarditis, TTE and TEE performed comparably, demonstrating similar numbers of vegetations and frequency of tricuspid regurgitation [1,44].
Infective Endocarditis. Radiography Chest The chest radiograph is used to determine cardiac chamber size and the presence and severity of pulmonary venous hypertension and edema. It is also used to monitor the severity of the hemodynamic consequences of valvular regurgitation caused by infective endocarditis and to assess the response to treatment. In right-sided endocarditis, the chest radiograph may be effective in demonstrating pulmonary infarcts and abscesses as sequelae of septic emboli. US Echocardiography Transthoracic Resting TTE resting plays an important role in the evaluation of infective endocarditis and is currently the only imaging criterion included in the modified Duke criterion used for a diagnosis of infective endocarditis [39]. It can demonstrate vegetations on cardiac valves, valvular regurgitation, and paravalvular abscess. It is the most frequently used imaging study for confirming the diagnosis of infective endocarditis. The demonstration of vegetations by echocardiography is 1 of the 2 major modified Duke criteria required for the diagnosis of a definite endocarditis [39,40]. Studies show that criteria for the diagnosis, which include the findings on TTE [40,41], were significantly better than traditional criteria based on clinical and bacteriologic criteria. Several studies evaluated the diagnostic value of TTE and TEE in relation to the pretest probability of infective endocarditis based on clinical assessment in pediatric [42] and adult [43] patients. These studies concluded that Infective Endocarditis TTE has a lower yield in patients with low probability of endocarditis. TEE is the procedure of choice for patients with intermediate or high probability of endocarditis. In right-sided endocarditis, TTE and TEE performed comparably, demonstrating similar numbers of vegetations and frequency of tricuspid regurgitation [1,44].