Oral Switch During Treatment of Left-sided Endocarditis Due to Multi-susceptible Streptococcus

Infective endocarditis (IE) is a serious infection with a significant burden for patients and hospitals (in France, median length of hospital stay = 43 days), partly due to the long duration of intravenous (IV) antibacterial treatment recommended by international guidelines, between 4 and 6 weeks in most situations. A recent survey of practices regarding the management of IE in France showed that a switch from IV to oral antibiotics is feasible, when patients with left-sided Streptococcus-Enterococcus IE are stable after an initial course of IV antibiotic treatment, with or without valvular surgery. These practices have not been associated with unfavourable outcome, while significantly reducing the duration and cost of hospitalization, the risk of nosocomial infection, and patients' discomfort. There has been no randomized controlled trial (RCT) in the field of IE over the last 20 years; current guidelines are mostly based on expert advice, in vitro studies, animal experiments, or clinical studies performed before the 90's. The RODEO 2 project is an unprecedented opportunity to bring back evidence-based medicine in the field of IE. Most experts acknowledge that the pharmacological PK/PD characteristics of antibiotics such as amoxicillin allow a high level of efficacy in the treatment of IE when orally administrated after an IV period of induction. It's needed to conduct RCTs that clearly demonstrate the clinical non-inferiority of this strategy for streptococci, and enterococci IE with a benefit regarding costs. The RODEO 2 project corresponds to one pragmatic trial assessing the impact of a switch strategy, making it a comparative effectiveness trial that should be able to feed the next revision of IE international guidelines and to change practices in IE management.