Background: Prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE) is a serious complication of valve surgery.
Aim: The aim of this study is to determine the diagnostic and therapeutic management for PVE.
Methods: It's a retrospective study about 14 cases of PVE operated in the department of cardiovascular surgery of la Rabta hospital between January 1996 and December 2006.
Results: In two cases, surgery was performed emergent, in the remnant cases surgery was elective. The coagulase-negative staphylococcus (CNS) is the predominant cause of these PVE.Surgery consisted on seven mitral prosthesis replacements and seven aortic prosthesis replacements.Hospital mortality was 50%.
Conclusion: In conclusion attention should be made to prevent endocarditis when possible. In case of PVE, an early diagnosis a leads to earlier application of appropriate therapies and improved outcome.