health

Doctors may suspect infectious endocarditis if someone with a known
heart abnormality develops an unexplained long-lasting fever, an abnormal
heart sound (a murmur), or symptoms of heart failure such as shortness
of breath or swelling of the legs.
Certain tests can help doctors to diagnose infectious endocarditis,
including blood cultures that can establish the presence of bacteria in
the bloodstream, a complete blood count, and laboratory tests that look
for evidence of inflammation. For example, checking a patient’s erythrocyte
sedimentation rate (ESR) reveals how quickly the person’s red blood
cells, or erythrocytes (eh-RITH-ruh-sites), settle to the bottom of a test
tube, which is a measure of inflammation in the body. Another blood test
identifies levels of C-reactive protein, which are increased in the blood
when there is significant inflammation in the body. Doctors may also use
an echocardiogram to look for signs of infection on the heart valves or in
the heart. An echocardiogram (eh-ko-KAR-dee-uh-gram) is a diagnostic
test that uses inaudible sound waves to produce images of the heart’s
chambers and valves and enables visualization of blood flow through the
heart.
Doctors treat infectious endocarditis with antibiotics. The medication
is given intravenously in the hospital at first, but sometimes patients complete
the treatment at home. Several weeks of antibiotic treatment may be
necessary to eliminate the infection. In more serious cases, patients may
need oxygen and medications to support heart function while hospitalized,
and some people require surgery to repair damage sustained by the
heart due to the inflammation.