Infective endocarditis

Infective endocarditis is a serious condition characterised by colonisation or invasion of the heart valves or the mural endocardium by a microbiological agent. Vegetations form containing fibrin, platelets and micro-organisms which seed into the circulation causing persistent fever, non-specific systemic symptoms, murmurs and emboli. Normal, abnormal or prosthetic valves may be involved. The most common presentation is a sub-acute bacterial endocarditis. (1)

Reference

1. Holland TL et al. Infective endocarditis. Nat Rev Dis Primers 2016. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27582414/