Endocarditis history and symptoms

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Maliha Shakil, M.D. [2] Cafer Zorkun, M.D., Ph.D. [3]

Common symptoms of endocarditis include fever, chills, anorexia, malaise, weight loss, and back pain.

Patients with endocarditis may have a positive history of:^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]}

• Any congenital heart disease
• Valvular heart disease
• Intravenous drug abuse
• Prosthetic heart valves
• Intracardiac devices
• Immunosuppression
• Poor dental health and history of recent dental procedures
• Lupus
• Malignancy

Subacute bacterial endocarditis has an insidious onset while acute bacterial endocarditis is abrupt in onset.

Common symptoms of endocarditis include:^{[8][9][10][11]}

• Rigors
• Fevers as high as 102.9° to 105.1° F (39.4° to 40.6° C), often remittent
• Chills
• Anorexia
• Malaise
• Fatigue
• Weight loss
• Back pain
• Flank pain due to renal embolization.
• Stroke may be present in 10 – 15% of patients as a result of cerebral embolization
• Chest pain may be present as a result of embolization in the coronary artery. The infarcts are usually not transmural. Pulmonary emboli, often septic, occur in 75% of patients with tricuspid endocarditis
• Abdominal pain may be present due to mesenteric embolization or ileus
• Blindness may be present due to retinal embolization in 3% of patients

Common symptoms of endocarditis in intravenous drug abusers are:

• High fever
• Chills
• Rigors
• Malaise
• Cough
• Pleuritic chest pain
• Sputum production, hemoptysis
• Stroke, TIA, seizures

• Shortness of breath
• Fever
• Petechiae

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