Between October 1978 and December 1994, 619 cases of bacterial endocarditis were treated in the Heart Institute. Of these, 208 were submitted to surgical treatment, and 65 presented abscess in the valvular ring. Forty eight (73.8%) were male, their ages varying from 6 to 61 years, with average of 38.3 +/-11.9 years. Forty six (70.8%) presented a valvular prosthesis (37 aortic and 11 mitral). The microorganisms most commonly found were Streptococcus viridans in 17 (26.2%) patients, Enterococcus sp in 6 (7.7%), and Staphylococcus aureus in 9 (13.8%). Nine patients presented PR interval longer than 0.20 mseg in the pre operative eletrocardiography. The indications for operation were prosthetic valve endocarditis in 46 cases (70.8%), heart failure in 9 (13.8%), failure in clinical treatment in 5 (7.7%), embolism in 2 (3.1%), fungal endocarditis in 1 (1.5%), and others in 2 (3.1 %). The immediate mortality was 17 (26.2%) patients. There were 9 (13.8%) late deaths; of these, 5 presented a new episode of bacterial endocarditis. Thirty seven (86%) patients were in class I (NYHA), 4 in FC II, and 2 in FC III in the late postoperative period, with a mean followup of 5.3 years.These results show that the bacterial endocarditis associated with abscess in the valvular ring is a high risk pathology, the treatment is surgical, and the most common late complication is the reinfection.
Abscess; Aortic valve; Endocardites, bacterial