Abstract
Patients after heart valve surgery or its prosthesis replacement are at an increased risk of developing infectious endocarditis (IE). Routinely performed prevention measures of IE include screening and eventual sanitation of potential sources of infection.
Most common site of preventive sanitation procedures is an oral cavity. Even though sanitation of dental foci became a part of routine screening, there is a lack of data to support its benefits to the patients.
This article summarizes published clinical trials on this topic. In cooperation with doctors from the Department of Stomatology, 2nd Faculty of Medicine of Charles University in Prague, a list of recommendations was prepared in order to rationalize prophylactic dental foci sanitation in patients undergoing heart valve surgery.