Page 197 - Feline Cardiology

200 Section E: Other Forms of Structural Heart Disease

Table 15.2. Criteria for diagnosis of infective endocarditis

Definite Infective Endocarditis

• Pathologic criteria
• Micororganisms demonstrated by culture or histology in vegetation (of valve or embolization)
• Active endocarditis confirmed on histology
• Clinical criteria (see Table 15.1)
• Two major criteria
• One major and three minor criteria
• Five minor criteria
Possible Infective Endocarditis
Misc. Heart Diseases • Findings consistent with infective endocarditis, but which fall short of “definitive” description above

Reject Infective Endocarditis Diagnosis
• Good alternative diagnosis
• Clinical signs resolve with <4 days of antimicrobial therapy
• No pathologic evidence of infective endocarditis at surgery or postmortem (after <4 days of antimicrobial therapy)

Modified from Miller and Sisson 1999, p. 572.

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