Infective Endocarditis Flashcards
Learning outcomes
So basically how you get it, and what the presentation, investigation and treatment is
What is infective endocarditis?
Infective endocarditis is a form of endocarditis. It is an inflammation of the inner tissues of the heart, the endocardium, usually of the valves. Can involve the interventricular septum, chordae tendinae and intra cardiac devices.
How does infective endocardiits affect men and women?
Affects men more than women with a ratio of 2:1
Women have a worse prognosis
What percentage of IE patients have underlying structural heart disease?
Around 25%
What are the cardiac risk factors for infective endocarditis?
What are the predisposing valvular lesions in patients with IE?
What are the non-cardiac risk factors for patients with IE?
How does infective endocarditis arise?
Valvular surface is damaged as a result of turbulent blood flow. As a result, platelets and fibrin adhere to the underlying collagen surface and create a sterile fibrin-platelet vegetation. Bacteraemia leads to colonisation of the thrombus and perpetuates further fibrin deposition and platelet aggregation, which develops into a mature infected vegetation.
What are the ways bacteraemia can arise?
- Extra-cardiac infections
- Invasive procedures (e.g. oral, abdominal, genitourinary surgery
intravascular catheters)
- Gingival disease – easy access for bugs to enter blood stream
- Activities of daily living (brushing teeth and bowel movements)
What are the different modes of acquisition?
Health care related - (nosocomial - occuring within the hospital - if over 48 hours after hospitilisation)
Non - nosocomial (if the signs and symptoms appear less than 48 hours after admission - usually as a result of home based nursing, IV therapy, haemodialysis if less than 30 days before onset, acute care facility if 90 days before onset, resident in nursing home)
Community - acquired
IVDA (intravenous drug abuse)
What are the symptoms of infective endocarditis?
What is this sign of infective endocarditis?
Splinter haemorrhages
What is this sign of infective endocarditis?
Vasculitic rash
Petechial (a small red or purple spot caused by bleeding into the skin)
What is this sign of infective endocarditis?
Roth spots
What is this sign of infective endocarditis?
Osler’s nodes
What is this sign of infective endocarditis?
Janeway lesions (Pathognomonic) (specifically characteristic or indicative of a particular disease or condition)
macular means spots
Ecchymotic means: the escape of blood into the tissues from ruptured blood vessels marked by a livid black-and-blue or purple spot or area - differs from petechiae only because the spots are greater than 3 mm
What are the signs of infective endocarditis?
Congestive cardiac failure
Immune complex deposition:
splinter haemorrhages
vasculitic rash
Roth Spots
Osler’s nodes
Janeway lesions
nephritis
Embolic Phenomena (vegetation embolises - absess forms in the place it lands)
Focal neurological signs (Focal neurologic signs also known as focal neurological deficits or focal CNSsigns are impairments of nerve, spinal cord, or brain function that affects a specific region of the body, e.g. weakness in the left arm, the right leg, paresis, or plegia.)
Peripheral embolus :
renal
cerebral
splanchnic
vertebral
Pulmonary Embolus
When is there a high index of suspicion?
When there is
FEVER
NEW MURMUR
KNOWN IE CAUSATIVE ORGANISM
PROSTHETIC MATERIAL
PREVIOUS INFECTIVE ENDOCARDITIS
CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE
NEW CONDUCTION DISORDER
IMMUNOCOMPROMISED
IVDA
When are signs asbsent for IE?
- elderly
- after antibiotic treatment
- immunocompromised
- IE involving less virulent / atypical organisms
What are the relevant investigations for IE?
Markers for infection for inflammation / infection (Full blood count, neutrophilia, CRP ESR)
Urinary and electrolyte tests - searching for nephritis, infection and sepsis
Blood Cultures (before starting antibiotics)
Urinalysis - looking for blood - if so - nephritis
ECG - looking for conduction delay
CXR - looking for heart failure and pulmonary abscess - sign of embolisation
Echocardiogram - transthoracic or transoesophageal
When would you need a transoesophageal echo?
When the TTE is normal and the clinical suspicion is high
OR
When the TTE/TOE is normal but the suspicion of IE remains high - repeat echo at 7/10 days as initial vegetation may have been too small to see.
OR
TTE is positive and you need to assess complications, abscesses and measure the size of the vegetation.
When is repeat TTE and TOE needed?
If there is a new complication e.g
new murmur
persisting fever
embolism
heart failure
abscess
atrioventricular block
OR
To assess ongoing treatment (silent complications and vegetation size) / treatment success on completion (valve morphology and cardiac function)
What are the possible ways you get negative blood cultures even when IE is positive?
If there has been prior antibiotic use
If there are fastidious organisms present
If there are intracellular bacteria
What are the common bacteria responsible for IE?
85% of all IE:
streptococci
enterococci
staphylococcus
How does streptococci viridians enter the blood?
Orally