Infective Endocarditis - What to Look for in a Septic Patient

At least three sets of blood cultures should be drawn from different, fresh, many puncture sites separated by 15 minutes prior to administration of any empiric antibiotics where possible. Additional tests which are often ordered in the initial workup of a patient with presumed infective endocarditis include ECGs, chest x-ray, and CT,. or MRI imaging of potential sites affected by embolic or hematologic spread. The ultimate test for demonstrating the presence of a vegetation is a transthoracic echocardiogram.