A meta-analysis of medical versus surgical therapy for Candida endocarditis.

OBJECTIVES: The optimal management of Candida infective endocarditis (IE) is unknown. METHODS: We reviewed all 879 cases of Candida IE reported from 1966-2002 in the peer-reviewed literature to better understand the role of medical and surgical therapies. This review included 163 patients from 105 reports that met our inclusion criteria: 31 cases treated with antifungal monotherapy, 25 cases treated with medical antifungal combination therapy, and 107 cases treated with adjunctive surgical plus medical antifungal therapy. We also used meta-analytic techniques to evaluate 22 observational case-series (72 patients) of the 105 reports with two or more patients with definite Candida IE. RESULTS: We found that in patients who underwent adjunctive surgery there was a lower reported proportion of deaths [prevalence odds ratio (POR)=0.56; 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.16, 1.99)]. Higher mortality was noted in patients treated prior to 1980 (POR=2.03; 95% CI=0.55, 7.61), treated with antifungal monotherapy (POR=1.49; 95% CI=0.39, 5.81), infected with Candida parapsilosis (POR=1.51; 95% CI=0.41, 5.52), or with left-sided endocarditis (POR=2.36; 95% CI=0.55, 10.07). CONCLUSIONS: Medical antifungal therapy of Candida IE is poorly characterized, and recent antifungal developments lend promise for those patients who cannot undergo surgery.

Duke Scholars

Author Vance Garrison Fowler Jr. Medicine, Infectious Diseases

Author Gordon Ralph Corey Medicine, Infectious Diseases

Author John Robert Perfect Medicine, Infectious Diseases

Author Jennifer Shiunroh Li Pediatrics, Cardiology

Author Aimee Kirsch Zaas Medicine, Infectious Diseases

Author Daniel Kelly Benjamin Jr. Pediatrics, Infectious Diseases