American Heart Association 2007 guidelines on prevention of infective endocarditis

The American Heart Association has recently released a new set of guidelines for prevention of infective endocarditis with major changes and clarifications regarding who should receive antibiotic prophylaxis and who does not require it. The new guidelines are based on the current available evidence and deviate greatly from the previous ones. A summary of the changes and the evidence and philosophy behind this statement is presented in this article. Along with it is the current status of often-conflicting topics on other uses of antibiotic prophylaxis in dentistry. Special notes on heart murmur, patient information sheets, and continuing education questions are also included.