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Much of our knowledge about infective endocarditis (IE) comes from small studies, many of them performed years ago. To provide more-robust, generalizable, and current data on IE, the International Collaboration on Endocarditis (ICE) was established in 1999. ICE investigators now report data on clinical presentation, microbiology, and outcome derived from the first 5 years of their prospective, multicenter, observational study.
From June 2000 through September 2005, 2781 adult patients with definite IE (by modified Duke criteria) were enrolled from 58 sites in 25 countries. The median age of the cohort was 58. Most patients (72%) had native-valve IE, and 23% of episodes were categorized as healthcare associated. The most common predisposing f…