RT Book, Section A1 David, Tirone E. A2 Cohn, Lawrence H. SR Print(0) ID 55921182 T1 Chapter 37. Surgical Treatment of Aortic Valve Endocarditis T2 Cardiac Surgery in the Adult, 4e YR 2012 FD 2012 PB The McGraw-Hill Companies PP New York, NY SN 978-0-07-163310-9 LK accesssurgery.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=55921182 RD 2024/10/10 AB Infective endocarditis is a disease in which a microorganism colonizes a focus in the heart, producing fever, heart murmur, splenomegaly, embolic manifestations, and bacteremia or fungemia. Early diagnosis of this condition is extremely important because it almost invariably leads to devastating complications and death if not treated with antibiotics, combined or not with surgery. Infective endocarditis is defined as community-acquired or health care–associated infection. The latter can be nosocomial or non–nosocomial health care associated.