Spontaneous spondylodiscitis and endocarditis: interdisciplinary experience from a tertiary institutional case series and proposal of a treatment algorithm

Previously, the simultaneous presence of endocarditis (IE) has been reported in 3–30% of spondylodiscitis cases. The specific implications on therapy and outcome of a simultaneous presence of both diseases are not yet fully evaluated. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the influence of a simultaneously present endocarditis on the course of therapy and outcome of spondylodiscitis. A prospective database analysis of 328 patients diagnosed with spontaneous spondylodiscitis (S) using statistical analysis with propensity score matching was conducted. Thirty-six patients (11.0%) were diagnosed with concurrent endocarditis (SIE) by means of transoesophageal echocardiography. In our cohort, the average age was 65.82?±?4.12 years and 64.9% of patients were male. The incidence of prior cardiac or renal disease was significantly higher in the SIE group (coronary heart disease SIE n?=?13/36 vs. S n?=?57/292, p?n?=?11/36 vs. S n?=?41/292, p?n?=?14/36 vs. S n?=?55/292, p?p?