Successful surgical aortic valve replacement for prosthetic valve infective endocarditis following transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

An 80-year-old male underwent a transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) for severe senile aortic stenosis. Six weeks after the surgery, he was readmitted to our institution because of a high-grade fever. Transesophageal echocardiography revealed thickening of all three leaflets of the aortic prosthesis and mobile mass on the leaflet, and Streptococcus sanguis was identified from his blood culture. Therefore, he was diagnosed with prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE) and received intensive intravenous antibiotic therapy. Because he did not respond to the pharmacological therapy, surgical aortic valve replacement (AVR) was indicated although it was considered a relatively high-risk procedure. Herein, we report on the successful surgical AVR in this patient using a pericardial valve after removal of the infected prosthetic valve, and discuss some issues related to this rare complication after TAVI.

Objective: Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is a highly effective procedure for patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis who are at high risk or deemed inoperable. Because it only requires limited surgical invasiveness, the risk of prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE) after TAVI is thought to be low. However, PVE can occur even early after TAVI. We present our recent such case and discuss some issues related to this rare complication.>.