Trace or Less Valvular Regurgitation on Transthoracic Echocardiogram Excludes Native Valve Infective Endocarditis on Transesophageal Echocardiography

Key Points

• To assess whether trace or less valvular regurgitation on transthoracic echocardiogram can exclude native valve infective endocarditis on transesophageal echocardiography.
• Utilized transthoracic echocardiograms to evaluate valvular regurgitation.
• Conducted transesophageal echocardiograms to check for infective endocarditis.
• Sample size included diverse patient populations.
• Trace or less valvular regurgitation on transthoracic echocardiogram demonstrated a significant exclusion of native valve infective endocarditis (p<0.05).
• Specificity for identifying infective endocarditis was high when regurgitation was absent.
• Findings support the use of transthoracic echocardiograms to rule out endocarditis in clinical practice.