This new addition will provide an update on the current prophylaxis guidelines, the new diagnostic approach in the detection of the disease, the proposed schemas to predict prognosis, and the new treatment strategies to improve the outcome of patients afflicted with this serious condition.  

Endocarditis is a serious disease with a
high rate of morbidity and mortality. 
The in-hospital mortality remains at 10-20%. The poor outcome of
patients with this condition is due in large part to the delay in making the
diagnosis which frequently can be elusive. 
As a result of its wide spectrum of manifestations, endocarditis can
mimic many different conditions ranging from stroke to renal failure.  In order to minimize the delay in diagnosis,
clinicians need to always be mindful of the possibility that endocarditis may
be the cause of the symptoms. There have been ongoing efforts in the
development of molecular probes and new imaging techniques to improve our
ability to identify the disease early and reliably.  New treatment strategies have been studied
with the aim to prevent complications and to improve survival.

The
structure of the previous edition is preserved. 
The book is divided into three sections with the first section covering
the historical perspective and basic principles, the second section dealing
with the diagnosis and management approaches and the last section on specific
clinical situations that pose management dilemmas.  All the chapters will be updated to include new
information from the recent studies.  In
particular, the approach to the use of antibiotic prophylaxis will be
extensively revised to present and discuss the implications of the current
guidelines from different national societies including the American Heart
Association and the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.



This update is timely and should be of
interest to all clinicians involved in the care of patients with this serious
disease. This new edition will be a good resource for
internists, infectious disease specialists, cardiologists and cardiac surgeons
alike .