Surgical aortic valve replacement and infective endocarditis

Background We wanted to investigate the influence of native‐valve infective endocarditis (IE) on long‐term outcomes of surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). Methods Native‐valve patients with IE (n = 191) were compared to propensity score‐matched patients without IE (n = 191), all treated with SAVR, in a multicentre, population‐based cohort register study in Finland. The median follow‐up was 6.2 years. Results Infective endocarditis as the indication for SAVR was associated with an increased hazard of 10‐year mortality (37.1% vs 24.2%; HR 1.83; CI 1.03‐3.26; P = .039). Ischaemic stroke was also more frequent in IE patients during 10‐year follow‐up (15.8% vs 7.5%; HR 3.80; CI 1.42‐10.18; P = .008). Major bleeding within first year after SAVR was more frequent in patients with IE (7.0% vs 2.9%; P = .038). Ten‐year major bleeding rate was 32.4% in IE vs 24.5% in non‐IE groups (P = .174). Aortic valve re‐operation rate was 4.3% in IE vs 8.4% in non‐IE groups (P = .975). Admission duration after SAVR was longer in IE (median 29 vs 9 days; P