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Because of its anatomic and pathogenic characteristics infective endocarditis represents a special therapeutic problem. Even in cases responding well to the given antibiotic therapy, it often takes several weeks to destroy causative agents in endocardial vegetations. Proper choice of antibiotics, as well as appro­priate dose and length of treatment are there­fore essential to favourable outcome. The paper presents the basic principles of various treatment modalities, including empirical and specific drug therapy, surgery and treatment on an outpatient basis. The author stresses the importance of characteristic symptoms and signs of the dis­ease. It is equally important to keep informed about the statistics of the results of treatment of infective endocarditis, which before the advent of antibiotics was always fatal.