Endocarditis

Infective endocarditis (IE) is a potentially fatal inflammation of your heart valves’ lining and sometimes heart chambers’ lining. This occurs when germs (usually bacteria) from elsewhere in your body enter your bloodstream and attach to and attack the lining of your heart valves and/or chambers. Infective endocarditis is also called bacterial endocarditis (BE) or acute, subacute (SBE) or chronic bacterial endocarditis.

How does this condition affect my body?

Infective endocarditis causes growths (vegetations) on the valves, produces toxins and enzymes that kill and break down the tissue to cause holes in the valve, and spreads outside your heart and blood vessels. The resulting complications are:

• Embolism of material from the vegetation can get in the way of blood flow.
• Leaky valve.
• Heart block.
• Abnormal heart rhythm.
• Abscesses around the valve.
• Heart failure.
• Sepsis.

Without treatment, endocarditis is a fatal disease.

Who does endocarditis affect?

Endocarditis happens to twice as many people assigned male at birth than people assigned female at birth. Also, people older than 60 make up more than 25% of cases.

People most at risk of developing bacterial endocarditis include those who have:

• Acquired valve disease (for example, rheumatic heart disease) including mitral valve prolapse with valve regurgitation (leaking) and/or thickened valve leaflets.
• An artificial (prosthetic) heart valve, including bioprosthetic and homograft valves.
• Previous bacterial endocarditis.
• Certain congenital (present at birth) heart issues.
• A device, such as a pacemaker.
• A suppressed immune system.
• An intravenous substance use disorder.
• Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).

How common is endocarditis?

Endocarditis rarely happens in people whose hearts are healthy. According to the American Heart Association, about 47,000 people in the United States get an endocarditis diagnosis each year.