title: Valve replacement for acute left heart endocarditis.
abstract: Between January 1982 and June 1993, 66 patients (48 men and 18 women of mean (range) age 50 (21-77) years) underwent valve replacement for acute infective endocarditis. There were 45 aortic valve and 17 mitral valve infections. Four patients had bivalvular involvement. Fifty-three patients suffered from native valve endocarditis, with underlying valvular lesions documented for 31 patients. Staphylococci and Streptococci spp. were responsible for 68% of infection, and 20% of blood and valve cultures were negative. Refractory congestive heart failure was the leading surgical indication in 86% of patients. The mean follow-up period was 44 months. The perioperative mortality rate was 6%. Actuarial survival rates were 88.5% at 1 year and 83% at 3 years. No early recurrence of infection was noted. Six patients (9%) needed reoperation. Satisfactory results confirm that early surgical management should be considered in patients with complicated infective endocarditis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, University Hospital of Liège, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Liege, Domaine Universitaire du Sart-Tilman, Belgium.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Detry
authors.forename: J O
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Defraigne
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Limet
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004697:Endocarditis, Bacterial / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000209:etiology; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016459:Prosthesis-Related Infections / Q000601:surgery; D012086:Reoperation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate