Rheumatic heart disease was believed to be caused by direct infection of myocardial or valvular structures. Contamination of the culture media and secondary postmortem localization of organisms are the likely explanations for these positive results.

Cardiac surgery, or cardiovascular surgery, is surgery on the heart or great vessels performed by cardiac surgeons. It is often used to treat complications of ischemic heart disease (for example, with coronary artery bypass grafting); to correct congenital heart disease; or to treat valvular heart disease from various causes, including endocarditis, rheumatic heart disease, and...