Prophylaxis of infective endocarditis: French recommendations 2002.

I nfective endocarditis is a rare but severe disease, the incidence of which seems to have been stable over the past decades. Streptococci are the most frequent causative organisms. In France, infective endocarditis ranges from 25–30 cases/million inhabitants/year (about 1500 cases/year). The profile of patients presenting with infective endocarditis, though, is changing, with an increased proportion of elderly patients and a decrease of endocarditis due to oral streptococci. Valve surgery for endocarditis is performed in about one patient in two with a perioperative mortality that remains high. Since 1992, the date of the French consensus conference on the prophylaxis of infective endocarditis, new data have been published, requiring an update of its conclusions. These new data feature the following points: