Objective: To identify some aspects of infective valve endocarditis treated by heart surgery, as well as antibiotic therapy, in a public hospital in the city of Fortaleza, Ceará state, Brazil, from 1988 to 2003. Method: A retrospective and observational study was performed of 64 patients with infective valve endocarditis who required aortic and/or mitral valve replacement, tricuspid vegectomy and repair or pulmonary valve valvulectomy, as well as antibiotic therapy, during their in-hospital stay. They were analyzed in respect to gender, age, time elapsed from hospital admission to the surgery, time elapsed from hospital admission to hospital discharge, valve lesion, blood culture result, surgical treatment and mortality. Results: Infective valve endocarditis treated by heart surgery was more frequent in the third decade of life. Most of patients (81.2%) were males. The patients who died spent a shorter time from hospital admission to the surgery than the patients who survived. The aortic valve was affected in 65% of cases. Positivity blood cultures were seen in 42% and Staphylococcus aureus was isolated in 52.4% of these cases. Valve replacement was necessary in 93.7% of cases. The in-hospital mortality rate was 14.1% which was not influenced by the age of the patient or the blood culture result. Conclusion: Infective valve endocarditis treated by heart surgery was more frequent in men and in the third decade of life. It mostly affected the aortic valve. Staphylococcus aureus was the more common pathogen found. Almost all the patients needed replacement of the infected valve and the in-hospital mortality rate was 14.1%.