Abstract
Prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE) is the most severe form of infective endocarditis and accounts for 20% of all cases of infective endocarditis.1,2 However, studies reporting the incidence of PVE after surgical aortic valve replacement (AVR) are scarce and based mainly on noncontemporary patient cohorts. Whether PVE affects biological and mechanical aortic valves to the same extent remains unknown. Therefore, we investigated the incidence and risk of PVE after surgical AVR in patients with biological and mechanical valves. This observational, nationwide, population-based cohort study was approved by the regional Human Research Ethics Committee in Stockholm, Sweden (Dnr. 2016/1241-32) and is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (Unique identifier: NCT02276950). No informed consent from patients was required. The SWEDEHEART (Swedish Web-System for Enhancement and Development of Evidence-Based Care in Heart Disease Evaluated According to Recommended Therapies) register was used to obtain the study population. The unique personal identity number was used for cross-linking patient-level data from other national healthcare registers as described previously.3 All patients who underwent AVR with a biological or mechanical valve prosthesis in Sweden from January 1, 1995, to December 31, 2012, were included in the study. Patients with multiple valve surgeries were excluded. Person-time in days was counted from the date of surgery until the …
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