Preoperative false-negative transthoracic echocardiographic results in native valve infective endocarditis patients: a retrospective study from 2001 to 2018

BACKGROUND: Infective endocarditis (IE) is a lethal disease that is difficult to diagnosis early. Although echocardiography is one of the most widely used diagnostic technique, it has limited sensitivity. This study surveyed the clinical features of IE patients who underwent surgery and compared transthoracic echocardiography and histological findings to explore the factors related to false-negative echocardiographic results. METHODS: Medical records were extracted from IE patients consecutively hospitalized between June 2001 and June 2018. RESULTS: A total of 182 patients with native valve IE who underwent surgery were included. Compared to the non-surgery group, the surgery group was more likely to have pre-existing valvular lesions and more serious cardiac conditions and a relative lack of signs of infection and cerebrovascular events, leading to a lower proportion of “definite cases” before surgery. The false-negative rate of echocardiography was 14.5%. Echocardiography has significant disadvantages in diagnosing perivalvular abscesses, valve perforations, and left-sided endocarditis, especially for subjects with both aortic and mitral valve infections. The multivariate analysis identified congenital heart disease and small vegetations (< 10 mm) as independent predictors of false-negative echocardiography results. Conversely, fever and heart murmurs on admission served as protective factors. CONCLUSIONS: Under some circumstances, echocardiography provides inconsistent results compared with surgical findings, and negative echocardiography results do not rule out IE. The diagnosis of IE depends on comprehensive evaluations using multiple methods. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12947-020-00229-8.