Infective endocarditis: a challenging disease.

Enhanced clinical awareness of infective endocarditis, along with improved microbiologic methodology and more aggressive surgical intervention, has favorably influenced the outcome of the disease. The evolving nature of infective endocarditis over the past decade is described, as are the changing epidemiologic factors, microbiologic techniques, and echocardiographic contributions in the clinical management of patients with infective endocarditis.