OBJECTIVETo summarize the recent experience of surgical management of the active infective endocarditis (IE) disease in Fuwai Hospital.

METHODSFrom October 1, 1996 to December 31, 2003, 54 patients with active IE underwent heart operation in Fuwai Hospital. There were 41 males, 13 females, with an average age of 35 years old and an average weight 58 kg. Of the cases, 23 had congenital anomalies of the heart, and 1 had rheumatic valvulitis. Streptococci were found in 20 patients, staphylococci in 3, enterococci in 1, enterococcus in 2 and G(+) cocci in 1. Pre-operative cardiac classification (NYHA): class I was in 6 cases, class II in 12 cases, class III in 7 cases and class IV in 29 cases. Systemic embolization occurred in 23 cases and pulmonary infarction in 2 cases. Emergent operations were performed in 27 cases because of heart failure (8 cases), embolism (4 cases), aggressive infection (3 cases), heart failure plus embolism (2 cases), heart failure with aggressive infection (4 cases), aggressive infection with embolism (2 cases) and all the three factors (4 cases). The operations included aortic valve replacement (25 cases), aortic and mitral valves replacement (15 cases), mitral valve replacement (6 cases), mitral valve repair (3 cases), pulmonic valve replacement (1 case) and intracardiac shunt repair (4 cases).

RESULTSThe operative mortality was 17% (5 operative death and 4 lost in following-up after being discharged). All of operative deaths were due to infection. Fourteen patients had operative complications. The morbidity included peri-prosthetic leakage (8 cases), prosthetic IE (5 cases), residual intracardiac shunt (2 cases), complete heart block (2 cases), myocardial infarction, ventricular fibrillation, pulmonary trunk stenosis, and mitral regurgitation (1 case in each). Post-operative cardiac classification (NYHA): class I was in 41 cases, class II in 3 cases, class III in 1 case. Two patients were re-operated because of peri-prosthetic leakage, and then they were cured. Re-operation was also performed in other 3 patients. Unrelated late sudden death occurred in 1 patient and hemiplegia caused by anticoagulant intracranial hemorrhage in another patient.

CONCLUSIONAcceptable results can be achieved with active surgical intervention in active patients with IE.