Reducing antibiotic courses by two weeks could be possible in patients with infective endocarditis
A response-tailored strategy reduced antibiotic duration by two weeks without compromising the safety of patients with left-sided infective endocarditis.
A strategy tailored to individual patient response shortened antibiotic courses by about two weeks in patients with left-sided infective endocarditis, according to findings from a clinical trial presented at ESC Congress 2026. The Partial Oral versus Intravenous Antibiotic Treatment of Endocarditis (POET) II trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, demonstrated that patients with infective endocarditis caused by certain bacteria could safely switch from intravenous to oral antibiotics if they responded positively, reducing the total treatment duration to an average of 26 days compared to 41 days with standard therapy.
The shorter course met noninferiority criteria for patient survival and other safety endpoints. While primary relapse of infection was more common in the tailored therapy group, it was generally manageable. The trial's principal investigator, Henning Bundgaard, estimated that roughly half of patients with left-sided infective endocarditis might qualify for the shortened antibiotic regimen.
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