Introduction
Prosthetic valve endocarditis is not uncommon and accounts for about
30% of all the cases of infective endocarditis (1,2). Its incidence
after aortic valve replacement is estimated at 0.57% per person-year
(3), and it is often associated with systemic and local cardiovascular
complications. Surgical correction is usually indicated in these cases,
but a reoperation is generally performed in only half of the patients
(4-6). Surgical treatment carries high in-hospital mortality rate (7,8)
and this is particularly evident in patients who had undergone Bentall
procedure (9,10,11). On the other hand, medical therapy has been
associated with a worse early outcome in patients with infective
endocarditis who presented a theoretical indication for surgery (4,12).
The aim of our study is to review our results in the treatment of
patients who were admitted with infective endocarditis of a composite
aortic valve graft conduit after a Bentall procedure.