Endocarditis is an inflammation of your heart's inner lining. The most common type, bacterial endocarditis, occurs when germs enter your heart. These germs come through your bloodstream from another part of your body, often your mouth. Bacterial endocarditis can damage your heart valves. If untreated, it can be life-threatening. It is rare in healthy hearts.
Risk factors include having
- An abnormal or damaged heart valve
- A severe case of mitral valve prolapse
- An artificial heart valve
- Certain heart defects
If you have a high risk of bacterial endocarditis, your doctor might prescribe antibiotics before dental work and certain types of surgery.
Early treatment can help you avoid complications. Symptoms you might notice include fever, shortness of breath, fluid buildup in your arms or legs, tiny red spots on your skin and weight loss. Treatment usually involves high-dose antibiotics.
- Endocarditis(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/endocarditis/DS00409/DSECTION=all&METHOD=print
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Endocarditis
(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/endo/endo_what.html
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JAMA Patient Page: Endocarditis(American Medical Association) - http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/288/1/128.pdf
Also available in Spanish http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/data/288/1/128/DC1/1
- What Is Bacterial Endocarditis?(American Heart Association) - Links to PDF - http://www.americanheart.org/downloadable/heart/1177008835808ABH%20WhatBacteriaEndocarditis.pdf
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Echocardiogram
(Patient Education Institute) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/echocardiogram/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/echocardiogramspanish/htm/index.htm -
Transesophageal Echocardiography(Texas Heart Institute) - http://www.texasheartinstitute.org/HIC/Topics/Diag/ditee.cfm
Also available in Spanish http://www.texasheartinstitute.org/HIC/Topics_Esp/Diag/ditee_sp.cfm
- Surgery for Infective Endocarditis(Cleveland Clinic Foundation) - http://my.clevelandclinic.org/heart/disorders/valve/sbesurgery.aspx
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Endocarditis Prophylaxis Information(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=11086
Also available in Spanish http://www.americanheart.org/downloadable/heart/117866539484850_1606_PDF%20for%20Web.pdf
- New Guidelines Regarding Antibiotics to Prevent Infective Endocarditis(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3047051
- Bacterial Endocarditis(American Academy of Family Physicians) - http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/articles/557.printerview.html
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Infective Endocarditis(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4436
Also available in Spanish http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3041073
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Infective Endocarditis(Texas Heart Institute) - http://www.texasheartinstitute.org/HIC/Topics/Cond/endocard.cfm
Also available in Spanish http://www.texasheartinstitute.org/HIC/Topics_Esp/Cond/endocard_span.cfm
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Echocardiogram(Patient Education Institute) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/echocardiogram/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/echocardiogramspanish/htm/index.htm
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Heart Anatomy(Texas Heart Institute) - http://www.texasheartinstitute.org/HIC/Anatomy/anatomy2.cfm
Also available in Spanish http://www.texasheartinstitute.org/HIC/Anatomy_Esp/anato_sp.cfm
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Endocarditis(National Institutes of Health) - - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Endocarditis%22
- Good Dental Hygiene May Help Prevent Heart Infection(American Heart Association) - http://americanheart.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=432
References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: Endocarditis caused by Staphylococcus aureus: A reappraisal of the epidemiologic,... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19352296&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: At the heart of the matter. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19332226&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Achromobacter xylosoxidans, an emerging pathogen in catheter-related infection in dialysis... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19281752&tool=MedlinePlus
- Endocarditis -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=endocarditis[majr]+AND+english[la]+AND+humans[mh]+AND+(review[pt]+OR+guideline[pt]+OR+clinical+trial[pt]+OR+jsubsetk[text]+OR+patient+education+handout[pt]+OR+jsubsetaim[text]+OR+jsubsetn[text])+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus
- Cardiac Glossary(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3038158
- American Heart Association - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=1200000
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National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/
- Bacterial Endocarditis(Children's Hospital of Philadelphia) - http://www.chop.edu/consumer/your_child/condition_section_index.jsp?id=-9339
- Heart Diseases - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/heartdiseases.html
- Blood, Heart and Circulation - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/bloodheartandcirculation.html
The primary NIH organization for research on Endocarditis is the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/