# Rethinking the Routine: Are Repeat Blood Cultures Necessary After Completion of Infective Endocarditis Treatment?

## TL;DR

This study shows that repeat blood cultures after treating infective endocarditis rarely detect new infections and are not very useful for monitoring recovery.

## Contribution

The study challenges the routine use of repeat blood cultures after IE treatment by demonstrating their limited effectiveness in detecting recurrences.

## Key findings

- Only 2 out of 135 repeat blood cultures detected IE recurrence within 14 days of treatment completion.
- 8 additional recurrences occurred between days 15 and 120 but were not identified by the blood cultures.
- The study suggests that current practices for monitoring IE recovery may need reevaluation.

## Abstract

Among 598 infective endocarditis (IE) episodes, follow-up blood cultures within 14 days of antimicrobial treatment completion were performed in 135 (23%) cases and detected only 2 (1.5%) recurrences. This strategy failed to identify 8 (6%) additional IE recurrences diagnosed between days 15 and 120, underscoring its limited utility.