The risk of infective endocarditis according to blood pressure in patients with diabetes: a nationwide population-based study.

Background: We aimed to assess the incidence of infective endocarditis (IE) and evaluate the impact of hypertension (HTN) with underweight on the risk of IE among patients with diabetic mellitus (DM) using a nationwide population-based cohort in Korea.

Methods: We identified 2,603,012 participants (57.4 ± 12.3 years) in the national health insurance database. Of these, 374,586 were normotensive, 750,006 were at pre-HTN status, and the remainder had HTN. The risk of IE was compared between the groups, and the impact of being underweight (body mass index < 18.5) was also evaluated.

Results: During follow-up (7.14 years; interquartile range 6.01-8.08 years), 1,703 cases of IE occurred; 168 (0.0647 person per 1000 person-years [PY]), 303 (0.05836 per 1000 PY), and 1,232 (0.12235 per 1000 PY) in normotensive, pre-HTN and HTN group, respectively. Hypertensive participants presented a higher risk of IE (subdistribution hazard ratio, 1.360; 95% confidence interval, 1.152-1.607) than normotensive participants. Being underweight increased the risk of IE by 90% among subjects with HTN. In subgroup analysis, age, duration of DM, insulin use, and habitual factors were not associated with the incidence of IE.

Conclusions: Diabetic patients may require rigorous blood pressure control and simultaneous avoidance of excessive weight loss to prevent IE.