Infective endocarditis

Big picture

Infective endocarditis is a life-threatening infection of the endocardial surface, usually involving the heart valves, producing infected vegetations made of fibrin, platelets, microorganisms, and inflammatory material. Clinically, think of it when a patient has:

fever + risk factor + new/changing murmur ± embolic/immune signs

The examiner usually wants three core points:

1. Diagnosis = blood cultures + echocardiography + Duke criteria
2. Treatment = prolonged intravenous bactericidal antibiotics
3. Surgery is needed if heart failure, uncontrolled infection, or embolic risk

Current major guidelines emphasize multidisciplinary management, early imaging, blood cultures before antibiotics when possible, and early surgery in selected high-risk cases. ([European Society of Cardiology][1])

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