Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia: Using echocardiography to guide length of therapy

ABSTRACTEchocardiography can help distinguish simple and uncomplicated bacteremias from true cases of infective endocarditis and guide the type and duration of antibiotic therapy in a more precise and cost-effective manner. Empiric long-term antibiotic therapy is no longer uniformly recommended for all cases of S aureus bacteremia, although experts disagree about the optimal length of therapy.