Endocarditis is one of the diseases that our hospital's cardiology outpatient clinic deals with and one of the reasons why our patients visit us.

What is Endocarditis?

It is an inflammation of the inner lining of the heart or heart valve. Complaints of vascular occlusion may occur due to microbes and inflammation. The risk of inflammation is higher in patients who have previously had heart valve diseases, prosthetic valve surgery, immune problems, embolism disease, alcohol and drug addiction, and patients with intravenous catheters.

Endocarditis, which is an infectious disease of bacterial origin, can also occur due to fungi. Endocarditis can be acute, subacute or chronic endocarditis. Differences between the three types of endocarditis; The duration of acute endocarditis is 6 weeks, subacute endocarditis can last from 6 weeks to 3 months, and chronic endocarditis lasts longer than 3 months. Complications that may develop in types of endocarditis are generally stenosis and failure of the heart valves, myocardial abscesses, pericarditis and embolism.

What are the Symptoms of Endocarditis?

Symptoms in patients suffering from endocarditis include abnormal results in some biological and radiological tests and symptoms that patients can see with their own eyes. These problems may appear as high sedimentation, high CRP, bloody urine, heart murmur, cardiovascular occlusion, spleen enlargement, abscess, fever, night sweats and weight loss. Diagnosis of Endocarditis When diagnosing endocarditis, the procedures that need to be performed on the patient are ECG, ECO and blood cultures that need to be examined for inflammation. Endocarditis Treatment Treatment of endocarditis may include medication and surgery. It is beneficial to contact an infection doctor when starting drug treatment. After the diagnosis is made, all tests are examined and medication, i.e. antibiotic treatment, can be started for the inflammation.

The duration and dose of antibiotic treatment are decided by considering whether the patient has had heart disease before and the risks he carries. The aim of surgical treatment is to eliminate the infection in the patient and repair the heart structures and valves. If the clot travels to other organs, the infection does not disappear with antibiotics, and there is a condition that damages the heart valves, surgery is required. After our cardiologist uses biological and radiological diagnostic methods and diagnoses your disease, he will plan your treatment and help you by consulting an infection and microbiology specialist if he deems it necessary.