Endocarditis

Abstract

This chapter examines endocarditis. The term “infective endocarditis” (IE) describes an infection of the endothelial surface of the heart, most commonly that of a valve. Cases may be categorized in several ways: as acute bacterial endocarditis (ABE) or subacute bacterial endocarditis (SBE) on the basis of the speed of their clinical progression; or by pathogenic organism (e.g., S. aureus) or by location (e.g., right or left-sided), or by the nature of the infected material, native tissue versus prosthetic or by the mechanism of acquisition such as intravenous drug abuse (IVDA). When approaching a case of possible IE, it is quite helpful to generate profile of disease process using these characteristics, especially when it comes to empirically choosing the initial antibiotic regimen. All varieties of IE share the same basic pathogenesis: a bloodstream infection (BSI) that delivers the organisms to the surface of the valve. Then, they must be able to firmly adhere.