Surgical Treatment of Acute Infective Endocarditis after Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement

Infective endocarditis (IE) after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a rare complication, but has a high mortality. An 86-year-old female with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis underwent TAVR at our hospital and she was discharged without complication after 10 days. She was readmitted with high fever and acute heart failure 1 month later. Blood culture revealed Staphylococcus, and echocardiography showed vegetation on the septal cusp of the tricuspid valve and perforation at the membranous ventricular septum. We decided to perform emergency operation due to active infection and intracardiac complication despite appropriate antibiotic treatment. The infected valve was replaced with a bioprosthetic valve and the right ventricular (RV)-left ventricular (LV) communication was closed with a bovine pericardial patch. The patient received the antibiotics for 6 week and was transferred to the previous facility.