RESUMEN
The purpose of the study was to determine peculiarities of the clinico-morphological picture of modern infective endocarditis (IE). The authors generalize the results of 100 morphological studies of acute and subacute IE (AIE and SAIE) within the last 20 years (1985--2005). AIE and SAIE had developed in 52% and 35% of cases, respectively, after operations, medical manipulations and examinations. The development of secondary AIE was favored by congenital heart defects and mitral valvular (MV) prolapse, while secondary SAIE developed in patients with congenital heart defects as well as atherosclerotic and rheumatic heart defects. The feature of contemporary IE is the prevalence of primary clinico-morphological form with isolated aortal valvular (A V) lesion. Morphological changes in organs formed as a result of multiple septic embolism, immunocomplex lesion, panarteritis, and cardiac insufficiency. The occurrence and progress of the latter was caused by prominent AV and MV insufficiency (during several weeks in patients with AIE and several months in SAIE), myocarditis, pericarditis, myocardial dystrophy, and cardiosclerosis.