Treatment Protocols for Bacterial Endocarditis and Infection of Electrophysiologic Cardiac Devices

Infective endocarditis (IE) represents an infection on the endocardial surface of the heart produced by a variety of micro-organisms, including bacteria, fungi, and intracellular pathogens such as chlamydiae, mycoplasma, and rickettsiae. Infective endocarditis is a life-threatening disease and, despite progress over last decade in its diagnosis and treatment, the disease still continues to have unacceptable mortality and morbidity rates.