[Surgical treatment of acute endocarditis--which preoperative diagnosis does the surgeon need?]

In a group of 140 patients undergoing operation for acute infectious endocarditis in an 8-year period, the value of preoperative diagnostic procedures was analyzed in a retrospective study. Echocardiography was sufficient to establish the diagnosis in each case, angiography did not add any information about the endocarditis, but detected severe coronary heart disease in 19 patients. Abdominal sonography is mandatory to exclude intestinal foci, while CT scan of the brain only has to be performed in patients with neurologic deficits.