Discussion

Abstract

Dr Matthew A. Romano (Ann Arbor, Mich). At the University of Michigan, we have seen a marked increase in endocarditis in the past 10 years due to intravenous drug use, and as you have heard today, nationally it has reached epidemic proportions. Its association with the opioid crisis cannot be overstated. In this contemporary, large, retrospective study using the STS database, tricuspid valvectomy was an independent predictor of mortality with an operative mortality of 16%, which is higher than previously reported for a valvectomy series.