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In rare cases of extensive aortic root or mitral valve infective endocarditis (IE), severe calcification of the aortic and mitral valves, or double-valve procedures in patients with small aortic and mitral annuli, surgical reconstruction of the intervalvular fibrous body (IVFB) is required. A high mortality is generally associated with this procedure, and it is frequently avoided by surgeons due to a lack of experience. It is crucial to radically resect all tissues that are severely affected by IE to prevent recurrence in the patient. Our experience with the Commando procedure in patients with extensive double-valve IE involving the IVFB is presented in this article.

Risk scores are available for use in daily clinical practice, but knowing which one to choose is still fraught with uncertainty.To assess the logistic EuroSCORE, EuroSCORE II, and the infective endocarditis (IE)-specific scores STS-IE, PALSUSE, AEPEI, EndoSCORE and RISK-E, as predictors of hospital mortality in patients undergoing cardiac surgery for active IE at a tertiary teaching hospital in Southern Brazil.Retrospective cohort study including all patients aged ≥ 18 years who underwent cardiac surgery for active IE at the study facility from 2007-2016. The scores were assessed by calibration evaluation (observed/expected [O/E] mortality ratio) and discrimination (area under the ROC curve [AUC]). Comparison of AUC was performed by the DeLong test. A p0.05 was considered statistically significant.A total of 107 patients were included. Overall hospital mortality was 29.0% (95%CI: 20.4-37.6%). The best O/E mortality ratio was achieved by the PALSUSE score (1.01, 95%CI: 0.70-1.42), followed by the logistic EuroSCORE (1.3, 95%CI: 0.92-1.87). The logistic EuroSCORE had the highest discriminatory power (AUC 0.77), which was significantly superior to EuroSCORE II (p = 0.03), STS-IE (p = 0.03), PALSUSE (p = 0.03), AEPEI (p = 0.03), and RISK-E (p = 0.02).Despite the availability of recent IE-specific scores, and considering the trade-off between the indexes, the logistic EuroSCORE seemed to be the best predictor of mortality risk in our cohort, taking calibration (O/E mortality ratio: 1.3) and discrimination (AUC 0.77) into account. Local validation of IE-specific scores is needed to better assess preoperative surgical risk. (Arq Bras Cardiol. 2020; 114(3):518-524).Escores de risco estão disponíveis para uso na prática clínica diária, mas saber qual deles escolher é ainda incerto.Avaliar o EuroSCORE logístico, o EuroSCORE II e os escores específicos para endocardite infecciosa STS-IE, PALSUSE, AEPEI, EndoSCORE e RISK-E na predição de mortalidade hospitalar de pacientes submetidos à cirurgia cardíaca por endocardite ativa em um hospital terciário de ensino do sul do Brasil.Estudo de coorte retrospectivo incluindo todos os pacientes com idade ≥ 18 anos submetidos à cirurgia cardíaca por endocardite ativa no centro do estudo entre 2007 e 2016. Foram realizadas análises de calibração (razão de mortalidade observada/esperada, O/E) e de discriminação (área sob a curva ROC, ASC), sendo a comparação das ASC realizada pelo teste de DeLong. P0,05 foi considerado estatisticamente significativo.Foram incluídos 107 pacientes, sendo a mortalidade hospitalar de 29,0% (IC95%: 20.4-37.6%). A melhor razão de mortalidade O/E foi obtida pelo escore PALSUSE (1,01, IC95%: 0,70-1,42), seguido pelo EuroSCORE logístico (1,3, IC95%: 0,92-1,87). O EuroSCORE logístico apresentou o maior poder discriminatório (ASC 0,77), significativamente superior ao EuroSCORE II (p = 0,03), STS-IE (p = 0,03), PALSUSE (p = 0,03), AEPEI (p = 0,03) e RISK-E (p = 0,02).Apesar da disponibilidade dos recentes escores específicos, o EuroSCORE logístico foi o melhor preditor de mortalidade em nossa coorte, considerando-se análise de calibração (mortalidade O/E: 1,3) e de discriminação (ASC 0,77). A validação local dos escores específicos é necessária para uma melhor avaliação do risco cirúrgico. (Arq Bras Cardiol. 2020; 114(3):518-524).

AIMS: To compare early and late mortality of acute isolated tricuspid valve infective endocarditis (TVIE) treated with valve repair or replacement.METHODS: Patients who were surgically treated for TVIE from 1983 to 2018 were retrieved from the Italian Registry for Surgical Treatment of Valve and Prosthesis Infective Endocarditis. All the patients were followed up by means of phone interview or calling patient referral physicians or cardiologists. Kaplan-Meier method was used to assess late survival and survival free from TVIE recurrence with log-rank test for univariate comparison. The primary end points were early mortality (30 days after surgery) and long-term survival free from TVIE recurrence.RESULTS: A total of 4084 patients were included in the registry. Among them, 149 patients were included in the study. Overall, 77 (51.7%) underwent TV repair and 72 (48.3%) TV replacement. Early mortality was 9% (13 patients). Expected early mortality according to EndoSCORE was 12%. The TV repair showed lower mortality and major complication rate (7% and 16%), compared with TV replacement (11% and 25%), but statistical significance was not reached. Median follow-up was 19.1 years (14.3-23.8). Late deaths were 30 and IE recurrences were 5. No difference in cardiac survival free from IE was found between the two groups after 20 years (80 ± 6% Repair Group vs 59 ± 13% Replacement Group, P = 0.3).CONCLUSIONS: Overall results indicate that once surgically addressed, TVIE has a low recurrence rate and excellent survival, apparently regardless of the type of surgery used to treat it.

Infective endocarditis (IE) is associated with severe complications and high mortality. The assessment of mortality rates and predictors for fatal events is important to identify modifiable factors related to the pattern of treatment, in order to improve outcomes.We sought to evaluate clinical outcomes of patients with IE and to determine predictors of in-hospital mortality.Retrospective single-center study including patients with IE admitted during a 10-year period (2006-2015). Data on comorbidities, clinical presentation, microbiology and clinical outcomes during hospitalization were evaluated. Risk factors of in-hospital death were analyzed. A p-value0.05 was considered significant.A total of 134 cases were included (73% males, mean age of 61 ± 16 years-old). Half of them had previous valvular heart disease. Healthcare-associated IE and negative blood-cultures occurred in 22% and prosthetic IE in 25%. The aortic valve was the one most often affected by infection. Staphylococcus aureus was the most commonly isolated microorganism. Forty-four (32.8%) patients underwent cardiac surgery. The in-hospital mortality rate was 31.3% (42 patients). The identified risk factors for in-hospital mortality were Staphylococcus aureus etiology (OR 6.47; 95% CI: 1.07-39.01; p = 0.042), negative blood-cultures (OR 9.14; 95% CI: 1.42-58.77; p = 0.02), evidence of valve obstruction in echocardiography (OR 8.57; 95% CI: 1.11-66.25; p = 0.039), clinical evolution with heart failure (OR 4.98; 95%CI: 1.31-18.92; p = 0.018) or septic shock (OR 20.26; 95% CI: 4.04-101.74; p0.001). Cardiac surgery was a protective factor of mortality (OR 0.14; 95% CI 0.03-0.65; p = 0.012).The risk factors for in-hospital mortality were clinical (heart failure, septic shock), evidence of valve obstruction in echocardiography, Staphylococcus aureus etiology or negative blood cultures. Invasive treatment by surgery significantly decreased the mortality risk.

Multivalve redo procedures carry a high surgical risk. We describe an alternative surgical treatment for patients presenting with severely degenerated aortic and mitral valve prostheses who have to undergo open surgery due to endocarditis. Open transcatheter multivalve implantation is a feasible bailout strategy in high-risk patients to save cross-clamp and procedural times to reduce morbidity and mortality.

OBJECTIVE: To report on the experience achieved with the surgical treatment of 361 patients with acute infectious endocarditis who were operated on in the Heart Institute of the University of São Paulo. METHOD: The ages of the patients ranged from 3 to 81 years, with an average age of 38 ± 8.3 years. There were 230 male patients. It was possible to identify the etiologic agent in 311 (86.20%) patients. The diagnosis of acute infectious endocarditis was obtained by clinical, echocardiographic and microbiological evaluations. Two hundred and five patients had lesions of heart valves and 156 patients had lesions of cardiac valvular prostheses. Ninety had annular abscesses and 11 had fistulae. Of the group of diseased native valves, 104 (50.73) were operated on because of severe heart failure and 87 (42.44%) because of progressive sepsis. All natural aortic valves (136) were replaced by artificial valves. There were 107 diseased native mitral valves. In this group partial resections of infected tissue (vegetations) were carried out in 13 patients while maintaining the valvar apparatus. Of the 16 infected tricuspid valves, 8 were replaced. All the prostheses were substituted. The abscesses were cleaned and closed when their diameter was less than 10 mm. The larger abscesses were cleaned and closed with a pericardial graft, which was the support for the artificial valve. RESULTS: There were 75 (20.78%) hospital deaths, most of which caused by heart problems and their complications. There were 15 cases of postoperative endocarditis, 10 of which were re-operated on. The late follow-up showed good functional and clinical results, with 222 (77.62%) patients as NYHA Class I. CONCLUSIONS: When indicated, the surgical treatment must be instituted as early as possible. All diseased and infected tissue must be removed to achieve good results.