Surgical infective endocarditis and concurrent splenic abscess requiring splenectomy: a case series and review of the literature

Abstract

Splenic abscess is an uncommon but serious complication of infective endocarditis (IE). The timing of surgical management of splenic abscess can be challenging when valve surgery is required. The American Heart Association (AHA) and the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) currently recommends splenectomy before valve replacement due to fear of reinfection of the heart valve; however, published data to support this recommendation are limited. In this series, we report outcomes for 5 patients with IE and splenic abscess who underwent valve replacement first, followed by splenectomy at a median of 19 days (range: 10–77 days) after valve surgery, with no recurrent infection of the new valve. Our experience and review of the available literature provide reassurance for splenectomy after valve surgery for IE.