Analysis of sex differences in the clinical presentation, management and prognosis of infective endocarditis in Spain

IntroductionSex-dependent differences of infective endocarditis (IE) have been reported. Women suffer from IE less frequently than men and tend to present more severe manifestations. Our objective was to analyse the sex-based differences of IE in the clinical presentation, treatment, and prognosis.Material and methodsWe analysed the sex differences in the clinical presentation, modality of treatment and prognosis of IE in a national-level multicentric cohort between 2008 and 2018. All data were prospectively recorded by the GAMES cohort (Spanish Collaboration on Endocarditis).ResultsA total of 3451 patients were included, of whom 1105 were women (32.0%). Women were older than men (mean age, 68.4 vs 64.5). The most frequently affected valves were the aortic valve in men (50.6%) and mitral valve in women (48.7%). Staphylococcus aureus aetiology was more frequent in women (30.1% vs 23.1%; p