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Symptoms
By Mayo Clinic staffEndocarditis may develop slowly or suddenly — depending on what's causing the infection and whether you have any underlying heart problems.
Endocarditis signs and symptoms may include:
- Fever
- Chills
- A new or changed heart murmur — abnormal heart sounds made by blood rushing through your heart
- Fatigue
- Aching joints and muscles
- Night sweats
- Shortness of breath
- Paleness
- Persistent cough
- Swelling in your feet, legs or abdomen
- Unexplained weight loss
- Blood in your urine (either visible or found in a doctor's viewing of your urine under a microscope)
- Tenderness in your spleen — an infection-fighting abdominal organ on your left side, just below your rib cage
- Osler's nodes — red, tender spots under the skin of your fingers
- Petechiae (puh-TEE-key-e) — tiny purple or red spots on the skin, whites of your eyes, or inside your mouth
When to see a doctor
If you develop signs or symptoms of endocarditis, see your doctor right away — especially if you have risk factors for this serious infection, such as a heart defect or a previous case of endocarditis.
Although less serious conditions can cause similar signs and symptoms, you won't know for sure until you see a doctor.
- Endocarditis. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=11078. Accessed June 19, 2009.
- Endocarditis. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/endo/endo_all.html. Accessed June 19, 2009.
- Sexton DJ. Diagnostic approach to infective endocarditis. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 12, 2009.
- Sexton DJ. Epidemiology, risk factors and microbiology of infective endocarditis. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 12, 2009.
- Spelman D, et al. Complications and outcome of infective endocarditis. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 12, 2009.
- Sexton DJ. Antimicrobial therapy of native valve endocarditis. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 12, 2009.
- Wilson W, et al. Prevention of infective endocarditis. Guidelines for the American Heart Association. A guideline from the American Heart Association Rheumatic Fever, Endocarditis and Kawasaki Disease Committee, Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young, and the Council on Clinical Cardiology, Council on Cardiovascular Surgery and Anesthesia, and the Quality of Care and Outcomes Research Interdisciplinary Working Group. Circulation. 2007;116:1736.
- Schick EC. Surgery for native valve endocarditis. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 12, 2009.
- Bonow RO, et al. ACC/AHA 2006 guidelines for the management of patients with valvular heart disease. Circulation. 2006;114:e84.
