Kolte D, et al. - Using the 2013-2014 Nationwide Readmissions Databases, researchers examined a nationally representative cohort of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) patients in the US to determine the incidence of early infective endocarditis (IE) post-TAVI and surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR), as well as to assess clinical attributes, independent predictive factors, and outcomes of patients with IE post-TAVI. The estimated incidence rates of early IE among 29,306 TAVI and 66,077 SAVR patients were 1.7% and 2.5% per person-year, respectively. The occurrence of IE post-TAVI was most commonly attributed to Staphylococcus (30.4%), Streptococcus (29.9%), and Enterococcus (20.5%). The factors that were independently related to an increased risk of IE included younger age, history of heart failure, need for permanent pacemaker placement, cardiac arrest, major bleeding, and sepsis during the index TAVI hospitalization. During readmission, 15.6% was the in-hospital mortality rate for IE.