Mitral valve repair in infective endocarditis: which evidence?

nfective endocarditis is still a challenging clinical condition undergoing continuous epidemiologic changes, involving both the population at risk and the microbiological etiology. Antibiotic treatment alone is not effective in presence of structural abnormalities of native valves, leading to heart failure and/or to high embolic risk. Moreover, some patients despite being treated with antibiotics, their valve leaflets may undergo profound degenerative changes responsible for significant hemodynamic abnormalities. The resulting valve disease may lead to a decreased life expectancy. In these patients, surgery was the only independent factor