Despite significant diagnostic and therapeutic improvements, infective endocarditis (IE) still carries high morbidity and mortality. In the last three decades, significant variations in epidemiological and clinical profile of IE have been observed. The diagnosis of IE requires an adequate clinical suspicion, given its pleomorphic presentation. Microbiological and imaging techniques, which are pivotal in confirming the diagnosis, need constant refinement because of suboptimal accuracy. A clinically integrated multidisciplinary approach is recommended. Guidelines provide useful support despite being based mainly on the opinion of experts rather than on randomized trials, with some inconsistencies among different recommendations. This review encounters the current state of knowledge, gaps in evidence, and future research direction in the field of IE.

尽管有显着的诊断和治疗改进，感染性心内膜炎 (IE) 仍然具有很高的发病率和死亡率。在过去的三年中，已经观察到 IE 的流行病学和临床特征的显着变化。鉴于 IE 的多形性表现，IE 的诊断需要充分的临床怀疑。微生物和成像技术对确诊至关重要，但由于准确性欠佳，需要不断改进。建议采用临床综合多学科方法。尽管指南主要基于专家意见而非随机试验，但不同建议之间存在一些不一致之处，但仍提供了有用的支持。本综述涉及 IE 领域的当前知识状态、证据差距和未来研究方向。