{"id":5761,"date":"2026-10-19T09:40:46","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T07:40:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cvja.co.za\/journal\/?p=5761"},"modified":"2026-10-19T10:15:44","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T08:15:44","slug":"cvja-2026-024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cvja.co.za\/journal\/cvja-2026-024\/","title":{"rendered":"Infective endocarditis in children: a 23-year experience at a Southern African tertiary institution"},"content":{"rendered":"    <div id=\"article\">                                                                                                                        \r\n        <div id=\"title-container\">                                                                                                    \r\n        <div id=\"authors-title\">                                                                                                            \r\n        <!--Aurthors under Title-->                                                                                                            \r\n            \r\nMeera Ooka, Antoinette Cilliers\r\n<\/div>        \r\n<\/div>                                                                                                                            \r\n            <div id=\"copyright\">\r\n        <strong>Copyright:<\/strong> Clinics Cardive Publishing (Pty) Ltd. publisher\r\n        of Cardiovascular Journal of Africa.<\/div>\r\n    <div style=\"clear: both;\"><\/div>                                                                                                                                \r\n        <div id=\"article-abstract\">                                                                                                            \r\n            <div id=\"abstract-title\">                                                                                                        \r\n                    Abstract                                                                                                                \r\n                <\/div>                                                                                                                        \r\n                                                                                                                                \r\n            <div id=\"abstract-content\">                                                                                                        \r\n            <!--Content of Abstract Article-->                                                                                                \r\n            <!--<strong>\"Abstract titles\":<\/strong>-->                                                                                        \r\n            <!--<br\/> at the end of each section!!-->                                                                                        \r\n                                                                                                                                                    \r\n\r\n        <strong>Background:<\/strong>                                                                                                    \r\n                                                                                                                                                    \r\nThere is a paucity of data regarding infective endocarditis (IE) in children, particularly in low-to-middle-income settings, with minimal recent data from Sub-Saharan Africa.\r\n<br \/>    \r\n\r\n        <strong>Objectives:<\/strong>                                                                                                    \r\n                                                                                                                                                    \r\nTo determine the demographic and clinical profiles of paediatric patients with IE at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital (CHBAH), Johannesburg, South Africa.\r\n<br \/>           \r\n\r\n        <strong>Methods:<\/strong>                                                                                                    \r\n                                                                                                                                                    \r\nA retrospective descriptive study of all paediatric patients diagnosed with IE between 1993 and 2015. Demographic data, the presence of congenital or acquired structural heart disease and other risk factors, blood culture results and complications were recorded and analysed using basic statistical methods.\r\n<br \/>            \r\n                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        \r\n                                                                                                                                                \r\n        <strong>Results:<\/strong>                                                                                                    \r\n                                                                                                                                                    \r\n183 patients were included (median age 31.2 months). Ninety-seven patients (53%) had underlying congenital heart disease (CHD), 26 had rheumatic heart disease (14.2%), and 45 (24%) were identified with structurally normal hearts. Underlying sepsis (37.8%), central venous catheters (CVC) (31.2%), prematurity (15.6%) and human immunodeficiency virus (13.3%) were found to be risk factors in the group with normal hearts. Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus viridans were the most common pathogens. Complications were documented in 103 (56.3%) patients. These included cardiac failure (CF), worsening valve lesions, vascular complications (embolisation and mycotic aneurysm formation), other manifestations of sepsis, surgery required to treat complications and death. The overall mortality rate was 23.5%. CF and vascular complications were associated with a high risk of mortality.\r\n<br \/>    \r\n\r\n        <strong>Conclusion:<\/strong>                                                                                                    \r\n                                                                                                                                                    \r\nCHD is the most common association with IE, followed by structurally normal hearts in premature infants and patients with CVC. The complication rate of 56% and 24% mortality rate highlight the devastating outcomes of IE.\r\n<br \/>    \r\n\r\n\r\n                                                                                                        \r\n\r\n                                                                                                                                                \r\n            <\/div>                                                                                                                            \r\n        <\/div>                                                                                                                                    \r\n                                                                                                                                        \r\n                                                                                                                                                \r\n        <div id=\"keywords\">                                                                                                                    \r\n                                                                                                                                            \r\n            <strong>Keywords:<\/strong>                                                                                                        \r\n                                                                                                                                            \r\n            <strong>infective endocarditis, children, low- and middle-income country (LMIC), epidemiology, outcomes<\/strong>                                                                                                                                                                                                                    \r\n                                                                                                                                                \r\n        <\/div>                                                                                                                                    \r\n                                                                                                                                                \r\n    <div id=\"publish-info\">                                                                                                                    \r\n                                                                                                                                \r\n    <strong>Submitted:<\/strong> October 11, 2024; <!--Month day, year; -->    \r\n    <strong>Accepted:<\/strong> March 16, 2026; <!--Month day, year; -->                                                                            \r\n    <strong>Published:<\/strong> October 16, 2026<!--Month day, year; -->                                                                                                                            <br \/>                                                            \r\n        <em>Cardiovasc J Afr 2025; <b>37<\/b>: 430-441<!--pg no. till pg no. \"eg. 4-7\"--><\/em>\r\n        <br \/><strong>Volume 37, Issue 4<\/strong> <br \/>                                                                            \r\n        <\/div>                                                                                                                            \r\n                                                                                                                                        \r\n    <div id=\"DOI\">                                                                                                                    \r\n            DOI Citation Reference: dx.doi.org\/10.5830\/CVJA-2026-024<!--DOI number-->                                                                \r\n        <\/div>                                                                                                                            \r\n                \r\n                <div id=\"author-affiliation\">                                                                                                \r\n \r\n<strong>Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa\r\n\r\n<\/strong>    <br \/>                                                                            \r\nMeera Ooka<br \/>\r\nAntoinette Cilliers\r\n<br \/><br \/>     \r\n\r\n\r\n                [soshsc hide=\"logged\"]\r\n                \r\n                <strong>You need to be <a style=\"color: #c80c44;\" href=\"https:\/\/cvja.co.za\/journal\/member-login\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">logged in to view and download<\/a> the full text PDF version. <a style=\"color: #c80c44;\" href=\"https:\/\/cvja.co.za\/journal\/register\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Register for a free account?<\/a><\/strong> <br \/><br \/>[\/soshsc]\r\n                \r\n                \r\n                \r\n                <\/div>\r\n    \r\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There is a paucity of data regarding infective endocarditis (IE) in children, particularly in low-to-middle-income settings, with minimal recent data from Sub-Saharan Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,112],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cardiovascular-topics","category-volume-37-issue-4"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - 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