RESUMEN
The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of bacteria, whether on the skin or in the blood, in inducing infective endocarditis in cases of atopic dermatitis. Twenty-five children with atopic dermatitis [AD] were subjected to history taking, eczema area and severity index [EASI] evaluation, blood culture, lesional and non-lesional skin swab culture and a proper cardiac examination, chest X-ray and echocardiography to detect infective endocarditis [IE]. Six out of these patients had IE, four had a predisposing cardiac condition [ventricular septal defect, VSD] and two patients had cardiac vegetations on a previously normal heart. In AD patients with IE, the mean patients' age, mean EASI, mean disease duration and mean IgE level but not the lesional bacterial colony count were statistically significantly higher than the remaining patients complaining of AD only [n = 19]. In the controls, two subjects out of 10 were confirmed to have VSD. None of them had infective endocarditis or a positive blood culture