Coronary angiography in the setting of acute infective endocarditis requiring surgical treatment

Summary Background International guidelines recommend that preoperative coronary angiography is performed on patients at risk of coronary disease who have infective endocarditis requiring surgical treatment. However, the risks of contrast-induced nephropathy or vegetation embolization in case of aortic endocarditis should be considered. Aims To assess the safety, therapeutic implications and prognostic impact of coronary angiography in patients requiring surgical treatment for active infective endocarditis. Methods This retrospective monocentric study was conducted in patients referred to a tertiary care centre for active endocarditis management with a theoretical indication for surgery between January 2013 and February 2017. Results One hundred and ninety-three patients were included; 73.1% were men, the mean age was 61.9 ± 16.3 years and the median EuroSCORE II was 5.8%. One hundred and nineteen patients (61.7%) had aortic endocarditis, which was associated with aortic vegetation in 74 cases (38.3%). Invasive coronary angiography was performed in 142 patients (73.6%) – 130 (91.6%) by radial approach – and 14 patients were evaluated by coronary multislice computed tomography (one patient had exploration with both techniques). Acute renal failure after coronary angiography was observed in 15 patients (10.6%), two patients (1.4%) presented a stroke within 24 h after coronary angiography, but none had aortic endocarditis. Among the 178 patients (92.2%) who underwent surgery, 35 (19.7%) had significant coronary lesion(s) and 25 (14.0%) underwent an associated coronary artery bypass graft. Conclusions Preoperative coronary angiography in patients affected by infective endocarditis provides relevant information in a significant proportion of patients and can be performed safely.