Prosthetic Valve Endocarditis - A Review

Abstract

Introduction: Prosthetic valve endocarditic is one of the most serious and life threatening complication following cardiac surgery, equally dreaded by the patient and the surgeon. Improvements in cardiovascular diagnostics, better and increasingly adventurous cardiac surgery and greater access of cardiac surgery to patients are resulting in an ever-increasing number of survivors of successful cardiac surgical procedures.

Incidence: Prosthetic valves are more prone to develop endocarditis as compared to even severely damaged native valves when controlled for all other risk factors. Infections of prosthetic valve account for 5-15% of all cases of infective endocarditis.

Conclusion: Prosthetic valve endocarditis is the dreaded complication of cardiac surgery. Subtle symptoms, atypical signs and presentation, diagnostic difficulties coupled with high mortality necessitates earliest possible diagnosis and prompt management decisions.