Early Switch to Oral Antibiotics Effective in Endocarditis

TOPLINE:

Switching to oral antibiotic therapy after initial intravenous treatment matched the efficacy of exclusive intravenous treatment for infective endocarditis , with no increase seen in treatment failure rates and a median of 12 more days alive outside the hospital being gained by patients.

METHODOLOGY:

Researchers in France conducted a retrospective cohort study including 333 patients with infective endocarditis (median age, 71 years; 70% men) to determine the efficacy of switching to oral antibiotics after an initial intravenous course vs exclusive intravenous therapy alone.

Patients with at least 10 days of effective antibiotic therapy were assigned to either the exclusive intravenous group (n = 233) or the oral switch group (n = 100); the early switch to oral therapy was de