[Surgical Treatment for Infective Endocarditis].

Infective endocarditis is an infection of the endocardium that can cause major complications. While surgery may reduce complications and improve survival, the surgery is of high risk and has a high mortality rate. Indications for early surgical treatment include advanced heart failure, refractory infection, and embolism. The most prominent form of heart failure associated with infective endocarditis is valve regurgitation owing to valve destruction caused by the infection. If the infection is not resolved after 3-5 days of antimicrobial therapy, the diagnosis of refractory infection should be made, and early surgical intervention should be performed. The most frequent embolism is of the central nervous system. Guidelines in Japan state that surgery should not be postponed in the case of cerebral infarction and recommend waiting four weeks for open heart surgery in the case of new intracranial hemorrhage. In addition, the presence of infected cerebral aneurysms should not be overlooked during early surgical intervention. Infected cerebral aneurysms are diagnosed using computed tomography angiography or magnetic resonance angiography. Finally, it is important to consider the timing of surgery based on day-to-day changes in the patient's condition, including onset of heart failure, infection status, and vegetation expansion.