Acute Infective Endocarditis: Early Surgery versus Conventional Treatment

Athough first described in the mid-16th century, IE remains considerable cause of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality to date. Early surgery for IE (defined as valvular surgery within 1 to 7 days of hospital admission) has lately been theorised to confer superior outcomes compared to the current standard of care (i.e. antibiotics with or without delayed surgery).