RT Book, Section A1 Pettersson, Gosta B. A1 Gillinov, A. Marc A1 Stamou, Sotiris C. A2 Cohn, Lawrence H. SR Print(0) ID 55923676 T1 Chapter 43. Surgical Treatment of Mitral 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=55923676 RD 2024/11/09 AB Mitral valve infective endocarditis is one of the more devastating complications of heart valve disease, and, if left untreated, is universally fatal. Although the distribution of causes of mitral valve dysfunction has changed in recent years, the incidence of infective endocarditis has remained constant over the past several decades.1 Underlying rheumatic valvular disease, which was a frequent predisposing factor to infective endocarditis in the 1980s, is now rare in industrialized nations.2 Other predisposing factors more frequently encountered today include intravenous drug abuse, immunosuppression, degenerative valvular disease, intravascular prostheses and devices, hemodialysis catheters, and nosocomial infections. Several of these predisposing factors are consequences of advances that characterize modern medicine.3