Infective Endocarditis — When Is Enough Enough?

“The POET II trial reports that stopping antibiotic treatment in patients with endocarditis once they are clinically stable shortens the treatment duration without excess risk of death or surgery, but triples the rates of relapse of endocarditis or bacteraemia. This response-guided strategy marks a genuine shift beyond the oral-antibiotic-switch paradigm from the POET trial, and the safety of the approach will depend on rigorous patient selection and close multidisciplinary follow-up.”