Infective endocarditis

Bacteremia is considered a risk factor for the development of endocarditis. Bacterial endocarditis is a bacterial infection of the heart valves and the epithelial lining (endocardium) of the heart. The term infective endocarditis recently been asked to highlight the fact that microbes than other bacteria can also cause infective endocarditis (25). According to the new terminology, infectious endocarditis), named in honor of an infectious microorganism, for example. streptococcal endocarditis, staphylococcal endocarditis or fungal endocarditis. Although currentlytermed endocardit infection, bacterial endocarditis is still used by many authors in the dental and medical literature.

Infective endocarditis as a result of complex interactions between the endocardium, local hydrodynamic effects circulating microorganisms and local and systemic host defense factors. In many countries, it is relatively rare, life-threatening disease (about 50 cases were officially registered in Norway and 300 in Denmark in the year).

Infective endocarditis, as a rule, occurs in individuals with underlying congenital or acquired structural heart defects that develop bacteremia with bacteria, which is prone to causing endocarditis. Symptoms of endocarditis usually begins within 2 weeks incited bacteriemia, although the time to diagnosis may be shorter or longer (51). The incubation period is more than 2 weeks between invasive procedure and the appearance of symptoms significantly reduces the likelihood of procedure, the immediate cause (30). The symptoms are non-specific and include fever, malaise, loss of appetite, heart murmurs, spleen, anemia, and weight loss. Before the era of antibiotics, the mortality of bacterial endocarditis was 100%, and this even if not handled properly. Currently mortality is less than 10% for viridans (alpha-hemolytic) streptococcal endocarditis (21, 55 and 30% for staphylococcal endocarditis (21).

Organism(s) in circulation causing the disease adheres to and forms of vegetation in the focal region of the heart valves. A necessary condition for that is often a prior injury fibrin, where and platelets were released, which can capture circulating microbes. Multiplication in the vegetation leads to the emission of contamination of the organism(s) back to circulation, producing a constant bacteremia, which gives the number of positive blood cultures. Clinical symptoms, including embolization bodies, are a direct result of this mechanism. ..