What question did this study set out to answer?

The aim is to determine which patients with non-β-hemolytic streptococcal bacteremia require echocardiography to diagnose infective endocarditis.

HANDOC: A Handy Score to Determine the Need for Echocardiography in Non-β-Hemolytic Streptococcal Bacteremia

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Authors

Randomized trial develops and validates HANDOC score to assess echocardiography necessity in NBHS bacteremia, suggesting reduced procedures.

The aim is to determine which patients with non-β-hemolytic streptococcal bacteremia require echocardiography to diagnose infective endocarditis.
Retrospective review of medical records from southern Sweden (2012-2014) for patients with NBHS bacteremia.
Patients analyzed in two cohorts; first to identify variables for the HANDOC score, second for validation.
Factors analyzed include heart murmur, positive blood cultures, and duration of symptoms to develop the scoring system.
339 patients in the first cohort; 26 diagnosed with infective endocarditis (IE).
HANDOC score achieved 100% sensitivity and 73% specificity in the first cohort, improving to 76% in validation with 399 patients.

Sunnerhagen et al. (2017) studied this question.

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Randomized trial develops and validates HANDOC score to assess echocardiography necessity in NBHS bacteremia, suggesting reduced procedures.