Globally, in 2010, IE was associated with 1.58 mil- lion disability-adjusted life-years or years of healthy life lost as a result of death and nonfatal illness or impairment.4 Epidemiological surveys from France and the International Collaboration on Endocarditis have confirmed that the epide- miological profile of IE has changed substantially. Although the overall IE incidence has remained stable,1,2,5 9 the incidence of IE caused by Staphylococcus aureus has increased, and S aureus is now the most common causative organism in most of the industrialized world. The emergence of S aureus IE is due in part to the increasing importance of healthcare contact as a leading risk associated with infection. Characteristics of IE patients have also shifted toward an increased mean patient age, a higher proportion of prosthetic valves and other car- diac devices, and a decreasing proportion of rheumatic heart disease. Moreover, the proportion of IE patients undergoing surgery has increased over time to reach 50%.1,10,11 In addition to these temporal epidemiological changes, major new findings from multiple diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic studies have been published since the last iteration of the American Heart Association (AHA) statement on diagnosis and management of IE complications was published in 2005.12 For example, the rapid detection of pathogens from valve tissue from patients undergoing surgery for IE by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been validated. Moreover, diagnostic inno- vations have emerged through new imaging techniques such as 3-dimensional (3D) echocardiography, head-to-toe multislice computed tomography (CT), and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Furthermore, the role of cerebral MRI and magnetic resonance angiography in the diagnosis and manage- ment of IE has been better defined in several studies. 