Podcast 524:  Bacterial Endocarditis

Contributor: Sue Chilton, MD

Educational Pearls:

• More intracardiac devices and injection drug abuse are thought to be increasing incidence of endocarditis
• Classic signs of endocarditis have included: Osler nodes (painful hemorrhagic lesions on hands and feet), Janeway lesions (painless hemorrhagic lesions on the hands and feet), and splinter hemorrhages in the nail beds
• Other classic findings like fever and murmur are variable
• More non-specific symptoms can include flu-like symptoms
• Patients who inject drugs are at higher risk for this diagnosis

References

Pant S, Patel NJ, Deshmukh A, Golwala H, Patel N, Badheka A, Hirsch GA, Mehta JL Trends in infective endocarditis incidence, microbiology, and valve replacement in the United States from 2000 to 2011. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2015;65(19):2070. 

Infective endocarditis. Cahill TJ, Prendergast BD  Lancet. 2016;387(10021):882. Epub 2015 Sep 1. 

Summarized by Will Dewispelaere, MS4 | Edited by Erik Verzemnieks, MD