Prevalence of Brucella endocarditis: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

BACKGROUND: Endocarditis caused by Brucella infection is one of this infection's complications, including a high mortality rate. However, studies on the prevalence of this complication have been limited to some case reports. This study investigated the prevalence of Brucella endocarditis globally using a systematic review and meta‐analysis. METHODS: PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases were searched using appropriate keywords until September 2022. All studies reporting the prevalence of endocarditis in patients with brucellosis were included in this current study. To investigate the pooled prevalence of Brucella endocarditis, random model was used in comprehensive meta‐analysis software. RESULTS: A total of 25 studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the systematic review and meta‐analysis. The prevalence of Brucella endocarditis was 1.3%, and the death rate was 26.5%. The results did not show a significant difference in the prevalence of this complication in different regions. CONCLUSION: According to this study's results, the prevalence of Brucella endocarditis is low, but it includes a large percentage of the deaths of affected patients. To complete our understanding of this complication and its management, more research should be done to investigate the effect of other factors, such as age and gender.