ABSTRACT
There are very few, if any, diseases whose pathogenesis is as well understood as that of infective endocarditis (IE). Over 150 years of basic and clinical research have defined most of the pathophysiological correlates of IE. Although there are many varieties of IE, they all share the same basic developmental steps. The goal of this chapter is to present the pathoanatomical, pathophysiological, and immunological events that are involved in the genesis of acute and subacute IE, and to correlate these with the clinical course of the disease.
