|
Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 18e
| Part 8. Infectious Diseases > Section 2. Clinical Syndromes. Community-Acquired Infections > |
Chapter 124. Infective Endocarditis
Sections: Infective Endocarditis: Introduction, Further Readings.
Topics Discussed: endocarditis, infective.
Excerpt:"The prototypic lesion of infective endocarditis, the vegetation(Fig. 124-1), is a mass of platelets, fibrin, microcolonies of microorganisms, and scant inflammatory cells. Infection most commonly involves heart valves (either native or prosthetic) but may also occur on the low-pressure side of a ventricular septal defect, on the mural endocardium where it is damaged by aberrant jets of blood or foreign bodies, or on intracardiac devices themselves. The analogous process involving arteriovenous shunts, arterioarterial shunts (patent ductus arteriosus), or a coarctation of the aorta is called infective endarteritis.Although many species of bacteria and fungi cause sporadic episodes of endocarditis, a few bacterial species cause the majority of cases (Table 124–1). Because of their different portals of entry, the pathogens involved vary somewhat with the clinical types of endocarditis. The oral cavity, skin, and upper respiratory tract are the respective primary portals for the viridans streptococci, staphylococci, and HACEK organisms (Haemophilus, Actinobacillus, Cardiobacterium, Eikenella, and Kingella; Haemophilus aphrophilus and Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans have been reclassified..."
The content above is only an excerpt.
For full access, log into an existing user account below,
purchase an annual subscription, or
purchase a short-term subscription to the complete website.
|
|
|
|
Or
|
|
|
|