Infective Endocarditis Flashcards
What will characterize the acute course of presentation of infective endocarditis?
Rapid onset, with large vegetations involving previously NORMAL valves
- > high fever, acute pulmonary edema due to regurgitation
- > high rate of embolic complications infarcting tissues
What will characterize the subacute course of presentation of infective endocarditis?
Long illness, lasting weeks to months, with small vegetations involving previously DISEASED or ABNORMAL valves
- > low grade fever, may be intermittent
- > constitutional symptoms will be associated: fatigue, anorexia, wasting, night sweats, myalgias
- > Immune complex deposition likely - causing arthritis / hematuria
What are the common classifications of IE by host substrate?
Native valve endocarditis (NVE)
Prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE)
Endocarditis in the setting of IV drug use
What are some miscellaneous classifications of IE by substrate?
- Endarteritis of coarctation - in the aorta
2. Endocarditis of prosthetic material -> i.e. kids operated on for congenital heart disease
Most common causes of native valve endocarditis?
Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus spp.
Most common cause of prosthetic valve endocarditis?
Staphylococcus epidermidis
Why does having foreign material in the circulation (i.e. pacemakers, IV lines) predispose you to endocarditis?
It has no endothelium -> cannot stop the clotting cascade. Perfect nidus for thrombus -> endocarditis transition
What does it mean when you begin to see first or second degree AV block in a patient with IE?
Poor prognosis -> probable formation of abscess in the conducting system of the heart
Why types of endocarditis can lead to septic pulmonary embolism?
Triscuspid or pulmonary valve endocarditis
What are some common metastatic infections which can occur as a result of septic emboli in the left heart?
Septic joints, and vertebral osteomyelitis (will manifest as back pain)
What are the “vascular phenomena” resulting from septic
emboli?
- Infarct of a tissue - i.e. renal artery or splenic artery
- Mycotic aneurysms - due to embolization to vasa vasorum of arteries -> localized aneurysm formation in many vessels, especially cerebral
What are the complications of IE caused by immune complex deposition?
- Glomerulonephritis -> acute renal failure
- Polyserositis -> arthritis
- Vasculitis -> rashes
What age group gets most IE and why?
> 60 years old, because greater than 50% of cases are due to predilection from calcific aortic stenosis
What are the clinical symptoms exhibited by most patients in endocarditis?
Fever, new or changing heart murmur
Constitutional symptoms if subacute
How an IE cause neurologic symptoms, flank pain, chest pain, gangrene, and blindness?
All of these are embolic complications
Neurologic: embolic stroke Flank pain: Renal artery Chest pain: pulmonary embolism Gangrene: deposition in extremities Blindness: Central retinal artery