Bacterial Endocarditis Following Surgery for Congenital Heart Disease

Abstract

BEFORE the antibiotic era subacute bacterial endocarditis was almost invariably a fatal complication in congenital and acquired heart disease.1 2 3 The offending organism was Streptococcus viridans in 85 to 95 per cent of cases in several large series.1 2 3 4 5 6 7 With the advent of antibiotic therapy the incidence and mortality of bacterial endocarditis progressively decreased,5 , 8 , 9 but other, more resistant organisms, particularly the Staphylococcus, assumed etiologic significance.8 , 12 Further changes in the clinical picture of endocarditis were next seen with the advent of corrective heart surgery.The classic clinical picture of bacterial endocarditis is not seen with infection in the early postoperative period. Altered host . . .