The Incidence, Clinical Characteristics and Outcome of Infective Endocarditis Among Intravenous Drug Abusers Versus Non-Drug Abusers.

Infective endocarditis (IE) is the infection of the endocardial surface of the heart mainly affecting the valves of the heart. It is still associated with very high morbidity and mortality all over the world despite various advances in diagnostic and treatment methods.

A few studies have shown that infective endocarditis represents less than 0.5% of adult cardiovascular admissions.While the overall incidence of IE has remained stable over the last several years, IE has increased in young people in parallel with injection drug use (IDU) behaviours and the growing opioid crisis.

According to recent guidelines , Intravenous (IV) drug use is considered a minor Duke criteria for the diagnosis of infective endocarditis.

Compared to the general population, intravenous drug abuse (IVDA) is associated with an up to 100-fold increased risk of IE through several mechanisms, including endothelial injury from injected particulate matter, direct injection of contaminated material, and drug-associated vasospasm leading to intimal damage and thrombus formation.

Also, IVDA is associated with HIV outbreaks, which is a well-known risk factor for IE. HIV-associated IE is associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality than non-HIV-associated IE.Because of its pathophysiology, IVDA-associated IE is more commonly right-sided. Beyond these known characteristics, however, literature on this topic is substantially limited, including the clinical and microbiological characteristics of these patients, rate and types of complications and outcomes.