Morphologic Findings in Native Mitral Valves Replaced for Isolated Acute Infective Endocarditis

Described here are some clinical and morphological observations in 37 adults having mitral valve replacement for active infective endocarditis limited to the mitral valve. The operatively-excised mitral valves are illustrated in 11 of the 37 patients, and photographs in them show that mitral valve repair in them would have been fruitless. Of the 37 patients, 32 (86%) survived the early operative period (30 days) and 31 (84%) were alive one year after the mitral operation. Of the 37 patients, 34 (92%) appeared to have had anatomically normal mitral valves before the infective endocarditis appeared.