endocarditis
Sign in to saveEndocarditis is an inflammation of the inner layer of the heart, the endocardium. It usually involves the heart valves. Other structures that may be involved include the interventricular septum, the chordae tendineae, the mural endocardium, or the surfaces of intracardiac devices. Endocarditis is characterized by lesions, known as vegetations, which are masses of platelets, fibrin, microcolonies of microorganisms, and scant inflammatory cells. In the subacute form of infective endocarditis, a vegetation may also include a center of granulomatous tissue, which may fibrose or calcify.
Key facts
- Medical condition (new).name
- Endocarditis
- Medical condition (new).image
- Blood_culture_negative_endocarditis.jpg
- Medical condition (new).caption
- Bartonella henselae bacilli in cardiac valve of a patient with blood culture-negative endocarditis. The bacilli appear as black granulations.
- Medical condition (new).field
- Cardiology, infectious disease
via Wikipedia infobox
Research
50,437 papersvia PubMed
Wikidata facts
- Image
- Blood culture negative endocarditis.jpg
Show 5 more facts
- NCI Thesaurus ID
- C34582
- Commons category
- Endocarditis
- exact match
- purl.obolibrary.org/obo/SYMP_0000262
- ICD-9-CM
- 424.99
via Wikidata · CC0
~5 min read
Article
5 sectionsContents
- Infective endocarditis
- Non-infective endocarditis
- References
- Further reading
- External links
Endocarditis is an inflammation of the inner layer of the heart, the endocardium. It usually involves the heart valves. Other structures that may be involved include the interventricular septum, the chordae tendineae, the mural endocardium, or the surfaces of intracardiac devices. Endocarditis is characterized by lesions, known as vegetations, which are masses of platelets, fibrin, microcolonies of microorganisms, and scant inflammatory cells. In the subacute form of infective endocarditis, a vegetation may also include a center of granulomatous tissue, which may fibrose or calcify.
There are several ways to classify endocarditis. The simplest classification is based on cause: either infective or non-infective, depending on whether a microorganism is the source of the inflammation or not. Regardless, the diagnosis of endocarditis is based on clinical features, investigations such as an echocardiogram, and blood cultures demonstrating the presence of endocarditis-causing microorganisms.