A link to the Copyright Permissions Request Form appears on the right side of the page. Infective Endocarditis in Childhood: 2015 Update A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association Robert S. Baltimore, MD, Chair; Michael Gewitz, MD, FAHA, Vice Chair; Larry M. Baddour, MD, FAHA; Lee B. Beerman, MD; Mary Anne Jackson, MD; Peter B. Lockhart, DDS; Elfriede Pahl, MD, FAHA; Gordon E. Schutze, MD; Stanford T. Shulman, MD; Rodney Willoughby, Jr, MD; on behalf of the American Heart Association Rheumatic Fever, Endocarditis, and Kawasaki Disease Committee of the Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young and the Council on Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing Before the 1970s, 30% to 50% of US children with IE had underlying rheumatic heart disease.9 Because the prevalence of rheumatic heart disease has declined in developed coun- tries, including the United States, it has now become relatively unusual for patients with IE from the developed world to have underlying rheumatic heart disease. In the past 2 decades, CHD has become the predominant underlying condition for IE in children from the developed world >2 years of age. In fact, there has been an increase in cases of IE associated with CHD because most patients with CHD survive much longer than they did several decades ago. Early surgical correction of lesions that were major risk factors for IE in the past has also changed the substrate for this disease. 