Infective Endocarditis: The Anesthesiologist's Perspective

Abstract

ABSTRACT Infective endocarditis (IE) usually involves one or more heart valves resulting in vegetation, perforation, abscess, fistula and/or pseudoaneurysm formation. In IE, the mainstay of treatment remains antimicrobial agent for 4 to 6 weeks. However, 40 to 60% requires surgical intervention because of some complications. Surgery could be risky in the active stage of the disease, but it becomes essential to avoid preoperative heart failure, irreversible structural damage and also to prevent systemic embolization. Perioperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) examination is an important diagnostic modality for guiding therapeutic decisions. We recently managed four patients of IE. Two of them presented with mitral valve vegetations resulting in severe mitral regurgitation and one with aortic root abscess. We monitored TEE in all the four cases throughout the surgery. How to cite this article Kiran U, Choudhury A, Makhija N, Saini K, Rajput RS, Airan B. Infective Endocarditis: The Anesthesiologist's Perspective. J Perioper Echocardiogr 2013; 1(2):57-61.