Endocarditis

General description of the disease

Endocarditis is an inflammatory process that occurs in the inner lining of the heart (endocardium) and affects the valve apparatus and cells that line the surface of the vessels located nearby.

In most cases, endocarditis is a minor disease that occurs against the background of other diseases, while age has nothing to do with the disease (it can develop at any age, since scientists consider more than 128 types of microorganisms to be its causative agent).

Depending on the clinical, etiological and morphological signs, endocarditis can be:

• Infectious (acute) – in turn, it can be bacterial or septic – affects the lining of the heart valves, which can lead to heart failure, heart disease, arrhythmias, hypertrophy, and even heart attack.
• Chronic or subacute (protracted) – pathogens: pneumococci or streptococci, affect myocardial valves, on which thrombotic deposits and ulcers occur. With a long course, it causes blockage of blood vessels, which can lead to a heart attack of the organ where the blockage occurred. Also, the spleen increases in size, there is a rapidly progressive anemia.
• Parietal fibroplastic eosinophilic (otherwise it is called Leffler’s endocarditis) – there is an increased content of eosinophils in the blood and fibrosis of the parietal endocardium, due to which the chambers of the heart can be thickened or, conversely, narrowed.

Leffler’s endocarditis occurs in 3 stages:

1. 1 acute (necrotic) stage, the duration of which is up to 6 weeks. The inflammatory process affects the upper part of the heart muscle and ventricles. The dead cells accumulate a large number of eosinophils, plasma cells and lymphocytes. These manifestations can spread to the vessels of the internal organs and the skin.
2. 2 thrombotic, during which there is the formation of blood clots of various sizes on the left ventricle of the endocardium, as a result of which the endocardium thickens and a zone with a large number of blood cells and vessels is formed. It should be noted that at this moment some muscle fibers atrophy, while others hypertrophy. Because of these processes, focal sclerosis occurs and new (young) connective tissue begins to grow.
3. 3 stage of fibrosis… At this stage, the heart muscles are narrowed, tendon chords are scarred (at this time a heart defect may develop. Sclerosis is noted, as well as thickening of the endocardium and the vessels that adjoin it. The inflammatory process in the walls of the vessels persists.

• Non-infectious thromboendocarditis – occurs due to internal and external intoxication, with senile marasmus and in people with weakened immunity. The left ventricle of the endocarditis valve is affected, on the surface of which thrombotic overlays can form (signs of an inflammatory process may not appear or be expressed insignificantly in the form of an accumulation of fibroblasts, macrophages and monocytes in the affected areas).
• Rheumatic – the main cause is rheumatism, which spreads inflammation to the tendon chords, the connective tissue of the heart valves. This type of endocarditis can proceed in the form of: diffuse (swelling of endocarditis is observed, but without damage to the endothelial tissue; with timely treatment of rheumatism, no consequences arise), acute warty (begins when the endothelium is deeply damaged; on the surface, from the side of the outflow of blood, growths appear in the form brown tubercles – warts, which consist of fibrin and blood cells), recurrent warty (changes are similar to the previous ones, only warts appear already on the walls of the valve affected by sclerosis) and fibroplastic – is an advanced form of all of the above endocarditis, in which tissue death begins, there is an influx of blood cells, due to which valve defects (aortic and mitral) can occur.

Possible endocarditis symptoms:

1. 1 fever accompanied by increased sweating and chills (one of the first signs);
2. 2 temperature (various conditions are possible: you can suffer for several months from an elevated temperature, or you can hold out a high temperature for several days, then return to normal, but the internal inflammatory process will continue);
3. 3 myocardial noise;
4. 4 weakness, severe headaches;
5. 5 the appearance of a light yellow skin tone, spots on the trunk, feet and palms;
6. 6 the presence of small-point hemorrhage on the mucous membranes;
7. 7 fingertips and phalanges can take on the shape of drumsticks;
8. 8 exudative or dry pericarditis;
9. 9 enlarged lymph nodes;
10. 10 kidney infarction, nephritis;
11. 11 damage to the central nervous system and valve (mitral or aortic);
12. 12 heart failure.

Some of these symptoms will be present if a detailed clinical picture is observed. It may be that the disease will proceed without symptoms. With such a wide range of symptoms, it can be misdiagnosed – this is the greatest danger and insidiousness of endocarditis.

Attention!

The administration is not responsible for any attempt to use the information provided, and does not guarantee that it will not harm you personally. The materials cannot be used to prescribe treatment and make a diagnosis. Always consult your specialist doctor!