What is the Duke criteria for diagnosing Infective Endocarditis (IE)?
The Duke criteria for diagnosing Infective Endocarditis (IE) is a diagnostic schema proposed in 1994 by Durack and colleagues from the Duke University Medical Center, which stratifies patients with suspected IE into 3 categories: definite, possible, and rejected cases. The criteria give diagnostic weight to bacteremia with staphylococci or enterococci, on the basis of the location of acquisition and without an apparent primary focus. The criteria incorporates echocardiographic findings into the diagnostic strategy, including 6 common but less specific findings of IE as minor criteria. Direct analyses of the Duke criteria have confirmed its high sensitivity and specificity in identifying clinically definite cases. 