Surgical treatment of infective endocarditis in the active stage.

The study summarizes the results of surgical treatment of active infective valvular endocarditis (IE) in two cardiac surgical centres in Hungary and the Soviet Union between 1969-1987. Most (92.9%) of the 241 patients operated on were in severe condition pre-operatively (NYHA Class III and IV), their mean age was 38.2 years. The infectious process was localized predominantly on the aortic valve (169 patients), and developed on previously normal valves in 151 patients. Hospital mortality was 17%, the underlying cause of death was often heart failure, sometimes associated with sepsis. Late mortality was 12.5% (25 patients), only six of these patients died of recurrent infection. The authors stress the high efficacy of surgical treatment of active valvular IE.