Symptoms
The symptoms of acute endocarditis include:
- high fever
- chest pain
- shortness of breath
- cough
- rupture of small blood vessels (hemorrhage) on the palms and soles
If damage to the heart causes severe shock, the patient may suffer from a sudden collapse, having to have a rapid pulse, pale cold skin.
The symptoms of subacute endocarditis include:
- fever (102.9 degrees Fahrenheit below (39.5 degrees Celsius)).
- chills
- night sweats
- muscle and joint pain
- persistent feeling of tiredness
- headache
- shortness of breath
- loss of appetite
- weight loss
- sensitive and small nodules in the fingers and toes
- tiny blood vessels rupture in the whites of the eyes, palate, inside the cheeks, chest or in the fingers and toes
Diagnosis
Your doctor will review your medical history with particular attention to possible risk factors for endocarditis, including congenital heart disease, rheumatoid fever, artificial heart valve or pacemaker, a history of intravenous drug use and a history of chronic disease.
Your doctor will also ask if you have been told you have a heart murmur and if you have had any dental or medical intervention in which bacteria may have had a chance to enter your bloodstream (scaling, periodontal surgery, tooth whitening Professional teeth, bronchoscopy, certain diagnostic tests of the genitourinary tract, colonoscopy).
Your doctor will examine you and check if you have a fever, skin symptoms of endocarditis (small hemorrhages in the skin, tender nodules in the fingers and toes) and a heart murmur, which indicates possible damage heart valve. Other tests include:
Blood cultures are drawn by these analyzing blood samples within 24 hours. These blood samples are placed in blood culture bottles containing special nutrients to help the growth of bacteria. If there are bacteria in your bloodstream, they will grow into blood culture bottles to the laboratory. Once the bacteria grow, they can specifically identify the species and can be analyzed to detect their sensitivity to various types of antibiotics. The results of these tests will help the doctor choose the best act specific antibiotic in the treatment of endocarditis.
Echocardiogram: This test uses sound waves to map the structure of the heart, its chambers and valves. By echocardiogram, your doctor can detect abnormal growths that contain infectious organisms (vegetation) within the heart. The doctor may also look inside the heart abscesses and signs of damage from natural and artificial heart valves. The best type of echocardiography to assess heart valve is transesophageal echocardiography, in which a tube is inserted through the mouth that produces images directly behind the heart. It may recommend this test if the diagnosis remains uncertain after standard echocardiography. Transesophageal echocardiography is also more accurate for evaluating artificial heart valves.
Serological tests: These tests look for signs of increased immune system activity, which is a sign of infection. These tests can be useful when blood cultures show no bacterial growth, which occurs in a small percentage of patients.
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