ABSTRACT
Introduction Prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE) is a serious, often fatal complication, even when adequate medical and/or surgical treatments are instituted. The disease is caused by an infection of the prosthesis and surrounding tissues that can generate vegetations, periannular abscesses, pseudoaneurysms and fistulae. As a consequence, patients can experience embolism, prosthetic dysfunction leading to heart failure, and all the clinical manifestations and complications of the septic process,1,2 as described in Chapter 13.
