The infection causes growth on the heart valves, the lining of the heart or the lining of the blood vessels. These growths may dislodge and travel to the brain, lungs, kidneys or the spleen. An enlarged spleen can be indicated by chest pain in the left upper quadrant of the body, with pain that radiates to the left shoulder. To prevent this infection one must take antibiotics before dental procedures or procedures involving the respiratory, urinary, or intestinal tract. Test performed by the doctor are, physical examination to detect enlarged spleen, check for change or new heart murmur, eye examination may show retinal hemorrhages, blood culture to determine if microorganisms are present in blood, ERS blood test for various inflammatory disease, CBC, a complete blood count, echocardiogram, chest x-ray, CT scan of the chest, also a blood test to check for antibodies in the blood.
Treatment is long term intravenous antibiotics.
Therapy up to 6 weeks is common. Repeated episodes or inadequately treated endocarditis, or delay in treatment can cause increasingly worse regurgitation. And therefore the risk of sudden death from arrhythmia or thromboembolism is greater.