Can We Really Achieve a 1-Year Mortality Rate Lower Than 10% in Patients With Infective Endocarditis?

We read with much interest the article by Botelho-Nevers et al¹ titled “Dramatic Reduction of Infective Endocarditis–Related Mortality With a Management-Based Approach” that recently appeared in the Archives.¹ This study attracted much attention in the field of infective endocarditis (IE), as the authors reported a 1-year mortality at 8.2% (13 of 160), while previous studies invariably reported in-hospital mortality rates of 15% to 25%, even in expert centers such as those participating in the International Collaboration on Endocarditis.²