Combined mitral and tricuspid valve repair in acute infective endocarditis

Combined repair of the mitral and tricuspid valves involved with acute infe ctive endocarditis was carried out in a 38-year-old drug addict. Mitral val ve repair included vegetectomy, closure of posterior leaflet perforation, a nd posterior annuloplasty with a patch and a strip of glutaraldehyde-tanned autologous pericardium, respectively, while the tricuspid valve was recons tructed with the use of artificial chordae and valve bicuspidalization. At five months follow up the patient is asymptomatic, with echocardiographic e vidence of only trivial mitral and tricuspid incompetence, and no signs of recurrent infection. This case report supports the use of valve reconstruct ion as a valuable option in patients in whom there is simultaneous involvem ent of the mitral and tricuspid valves with infective endocarditis.