This condition can cause the heart's valves to distort, leading to heart failure and death. Fortunately, such infections are uncommon, but the increasing amount of open-heart surgery has increased the incidence of endocarditis. The most common causative agents of this condition are Streptococcus or Staphylococcus aureus .
Most patients also have heart murmur.
Definitive diagnosis is made by a blood culture. The only way to prevent endocarditis is to give antibiotics prophylactically at least 30 to 60 minutes before a highly susceptible person anyone with heart valve disease or a prosthetic valve undergoes any procedure that might enable bacteria to enter the blood-stream. Amoxicillin or erythromycin taken 6 hours after the procedure is also recommended to temporarily lower the amount of bacteria in the blood and alter the surface properties of the bacteria so they do not stick to the heart valves. After administration of these drugs, it takes about 12 hours for the bacteria to begin growing normally. Myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, is fortunately rare since it may lead to irregular pulse and circulatory disturbances.