Contributing Writer Endocarditis is an infection that invades the innermost lining of the heart - the endothelium. It can damage the heart valves, the rings of connective tissue that surround the valves, as well as the inner linings of the heart chambers themselves. In some congenital cardiac diseases, infection can also occur in the lining of the arteries that come out of the heart. The prevalence of infective endocarditis is between 1.7 and 4 per 100,000 persons, most commonly affecting men in their fifties.
Bacteria are usually the source of infective endocarditis.
When bacteremia occurs, bacteria in the blood come in contact with the interior of the heart. However, not everyone who develops bacteremia develops endocarditis. Undiagnosed heart murmurs Other risk factors include intravenous drug use, male gender, African-American race, and pulmonary artery catheterization. Those who do develop endocarditis often have a cardiac abnormality that makes it easier for bacteria to invade the endothelium of the heart. Approximately 65 percent of people with endocarditis have a predisposing structural heart problem.