Infective Endocarditis: Types

Defination

In simple words, It’s a microbial infection of heart valves or lining of endocardium.

The microbial organism can be bacteria or parasite or fungus or rickettsia or chlamydia.

Let’s check out different types!

1. Subacute Bacterial Endocarditis 
2. Acute Infective Endocarditis 
3. Post Operative Endocarditis 
4. Right Sided Endocarditis 

What’s Subacute Endocarditis? 

• It is caused by relevantly low virulence organisms like streptococcus viridan
• It mainly effects 
  • damaged heart valves
  • MacCallum plaque which is irregular thickness usually found in the left atrium in patients with rheumatic fever
  • Also, Low pressure areas of heart 
• What are the Characteristics Features? It’s simple 4 points 🙂 
  • Formation of vegetation 
  • Emboli formation 
  • Mycotic aneurism 
  • Valvular Regurgitation

What is Acute Infective Endocarditis?

• It is caused by high virulence organism like staph. aureus 
• It effects both normal and damaged valves
• Doc, you need to be careful cause clinical course can be fatal if untreated within 6 weeks!!
• What are the Clinical features? How is it different from subacute?
  • Valve destruction is greater 
  • Abscess formation is common
  • Valve cusp perforation can also occur

What is Post-operative Endocarditis? 

• As the name indicates, during cardiac surgery, the patient develops infective endocarditis 
• What is a prosthetic valve? It’s an artificial valve replacing the mitral or aortic valve 
• It mainly affects the prosthetic valves, especially aortic valve 
• Source of infection- staph epidermis 
• Generally, within 3-60 days of a health care facility admission, the nosocomial infections will cause endocarditis
• It accounts for 20% of Infectious Endocarditis. So, provide clean facilities in hospital, doc.
• Typically, it is associated with invasive procedures like dental procedures and intravenous access.

What is Right-sided Endocarditis?

• Who is mainly affected? Intravenous drug addicts 
• It is caused when they share a syringe with other people during drug abuse
• Source of infection: staph aureus and candida present on the surface of the skin
• So, the microorganisms enters into the body through veins during drug abuse.
• The right side of the heart is affected, especially tricuspid valve.
• Larger bloodborne particulate matter in IV drug abusers typically deposits on the tricuspid valve.
• Remember, tricuspid valve is rarely involved in other causes of Bacterial Endocarditis
• Generally, the clinical course will be subacute or chronic or insidius.