Endocarditis: Causes, Treatments and Case Studies

The causes, treatments and case studies related to the disease of endocarditis are elucidated in this comprehensive book. Endocarditis is a disease that occurs as a result of inflammation of the endocardium. It is an inflammation of the inner lining of the heart (native or prosthetic valves). Endocarditis is characterized by a prototypic lesion, the vegetation, which is a mass of platelets, fibrin, microcolonies of microorganisms, and scant inflammatory cells. Structures such as the interventricular septum, tendinous chords, the mural endocardium or even intra-cardiac implants also get affected by it. The book presents the most prevalent causes and modern treatments of endocarditis, as well as cases where organs remote from the heart are affected by this disease.