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Endocarditis is an inflammation of the inner layer of the heart, the endocardium. It usually involves the heart valves. Other structures that may be involved include the interventricular septum, the chordae tendineae, the mural endocardium, or the surfaces of intracardiac devices. Endocarditis is characterized by lesions, known as vegetations, which is a mass of platelets, fibrin, microcolonies of microorganisms, and scant inflammatory cells. In the subacute form of infective endocarditis, the vegetation may also include a center of granulomatous tissue, which may fibrose or calcify.
A heart valve is a one-way valve that normally allows blood to flow in only one direction through the heart. The four valves are commonly represented in a mammalian heart that determines the pathway of blood flow through the heart. A heart valve opens or closes incumbent on differential blood pressure on each side.
The tricuspid valve, or right atrioventricular valve, is on the right dorsal side of the mammalian heart, at the superior portion of the right ventricle. The function of the valve is to prevent back flow (regurgitation) of blood from the right ventricle into the right atrium during right ventricular contraction: systole.
The HACEK organisms are a group of fastidious Gram-negative bacteria that are an unusual cause of infective endocarditis, which is an inflammation of the heart due to bacterial infection. HACEK is an abbreviation of the initials of the genera of this group of bacteria: Haemophilus, Aggregatibacter, Cardiobacterium, Eikenella, Kingella. The HACEK organisms are a normal part of the human microbiota, living in the oral-pharyngeal region.
Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is a valvular heart disease characterized by the displacement of an abnormally thickened mitral valve leaflet into the left atrium during systole. It is the primary form of myxomatous degeneration of the valve. There are various types of MVP, broadly classified as classic and nonclassic. In severe cases of classic MVP, complications include mitral regurgitation, infective endocarditis, congestive heart failure, and, in rare circumstances, cardiac arrest.
Infective endocarditis is an infection of the inner surface of the heart, usually the valves. Symptoms may include fever, small areas of bleeding into the skin, heart murmur, feeling tired, and low red blood cell count. Complications may include backward blood flow in the heart, the heart struggling to pump a sufficient amount of blood to meet the body's needs, abnormal electrical conduction in the heart, stroke, and kidney failure.
Libman–Sacks endocarditis (LSE) is a form of non-bacterial endocarditis that is seen in association with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), antiphospholipid syndrome, and malignancies. It is one of the most common heart-related manifestations of lupus.
Nonbacterial thrombotic endocarditis (NBTE) is a form of endocarditis in which small sterile vegetations are deposited on the valve leaflets. Formerly known as marantic endocarditis, which comes from the Greek marantikos, meaning "wasting away". The term "marantic endocarditis" is still sometimes used to emphasize the association with a wasting state such as cancer.
Legionella longbeachae is one species of the family Legionellaceae. It was first isolated from a patient in Long Beach, California. It is found predominantly in potting soil and compost. In humans, the infection is sometimes called Pontiac fever. Human infection from L. longbeachae is particularly common in Australia, but cases have been documented in other countries including the United States, Japan, Greece and the UK.
An irrigation sprinkler is a device used to irrigate agricultural crops, lawns, landscapes, golf courses, and other areas. They are also used for cooling and for the control of airborne dust. Sprinkler irrigation is the method of applying water in a controlled manner in way similar to rainfall. The water is distributed through a network that may consist of pumps, valves, pipes, and sprinklers.
Valvular heart disease is any cardiovascular disease process involving one or more of the four valves of the heart. These conditions occur largely as a consequence of aging, but may also be the result of congenital (inborn) abnormalities or specific disease or physiologic processes including rheumatic heart disease and pregnancy.
Staphylococcus warneri is a member of the bacterial genus Staphylococcus, consisting of Gram-positive bacteria with spherical cells appearing in clusters. It is catalase-positive, oxidase-negative, and coagulase-negative, and is a common commensal organism found as part of the skin flora on humans and animals. Like other coagulase-negative staphylococci, S. warneri rarely causes disease, but may occasionally cause infection in patients whose immune system is compromised.
Subacute bacterial endocarditis is a type of endocarditis. Subacute bacterial endocarditis can be considered a form of type III hypersensitivity.
Loeffler endocarditis is a form of heart disease characterized by a stiffened, poorly-functioning heart caused by infiltration of the heart by white blood cells known as eosinophils. Restrictive cardiomyopathy is a disease of the heart muscle which results in impaired diastolic filling of the heart ventricles, i.e. the large heart chambers which pump blood into the pulmonary or systemic circulation. Diastole is the part of the cardiac contraction-relaxation cycle in which the heart fills with venous blood after the emptying done during its previous systole.
Corynebacterium amycolatum is a Gram-positive, non-spore-forming, aerobic or facultatively anaerobic bacillus capable of fermentation with propionic acid as the major end product of its glucose metabolism. One of its best known relatives is Corynebacterium diphtheriae, the causative agent of diphtheria. C. amycolatum is a common component of the natural flora found on human skin and mucous membranes, and as such, is often disregarded by physicians as a contaminant when found in blood cultures. However, C. amycolatum is actually an opportunistic pathogen capable of causing serious human disease such as endocarditis and sepsis.
Legionella dumoffii is a Gram-negative bacterium from the genus Legionella with a monopolar flagellum which was isolated from lung tissue of a patient who suffered from fatal pneumonia. L. dumoffii occurs in soil and freshwater environments and can cause human pneumonia and accidentally induce other diseases such as prosthetic valve endocarditis and septic arthritis.
Legionella gratiana is a Gram-negative bacterium from the genus Legionella which was isolated from water in the Savoy region in France from a thermal spa.
Legionella londiniensis is a Gram-negative bacterium from the genus Legionella which was isolated from hot spring water in Shizuoka in Japan.
Bartonella washoensis is a bacterium from the genus of Bartonella which was first isolated from a dog with mitral valve endocarditis. Bartonella washoensis can infected squirrels but also can cause meningitis in humans.
Gemella sanguinis is a species of bacteria within the genus Gemella. Strains of this species were originally isolated from samples of human blood, and in one case from a patient with endocarditis. Additional cases of endocarditis associated with G. sanguinis infections have been reported.
References
- 1 2 Pearce, M. M., et al. (2012). Legionella cardiaca sp. nov., isolated from a case of native valve endocarditis in a human heart. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology 62(12), 2946-54.
- ↑ Straininfo of Legionella cardiaca
- ↑ Schindler, P. Legionellen im Trinkwasser. Bayerisches Landesamt für Gesundheit und Lebensmittelsicherheit.
- ↑ EzBioCloud