Historical aspects of infective endocarditis *

SummaryInfective endocarditis was a fatal disease three generations ago. Temporal evolution of knowledge made possible important advances in diagnostic techniques, specially in echocardiography, the possibility of cardiac surgery during the active infeccious process and new guidelines for antibiotic prophylaxis before interventional procedures. Nowadays infective endocarditis is curable. In this review we describe historical aspects of endocarditis since Osler's observations in the 19th century until the change from a “clinically possible” to a “clinically definite” disease.