Information on Infectious Endocarditis

by Alicia Stock

Infectious Endocarditis is an illness of the lining of the heart chambers and heart valves, result by bacteria, fungi, or other infectious agents. In several congenital cardiac diseases, infection can also happen in the lining of the arteries that come out of the heart. Infectious endocarditis may arise in a person of any age. The prevalence of infective endocarditis is between 1.7 and 4 per 100,000 persons, most commonly affecting men in their fifties. There are two forms of infective endocarditis. One form, called acute infective endocarditis, develops suddenly and may become life threatening within days.
The other type, called subacute infective endocarditis or subacute bacterial endocarditis, develops slowly and faintly over a period of weeks to several months. Bacteria may be introduced into the bloodstream. These organisms can then lodge on heart valves and infect the endocardium. Abnormal, damaged, or artificial valves are more susceptible to infection than normal valves. The bacteria that cause subacute bacterial endocarditis nearly always infect abnormal, damaged, or artificial valves. However, normal valves can be infected by some aggressive bacteria, especially if many bacteria are present.
The signs and symptoms of infective endocarditis depend on the causative organism. Symptoms of endocarditis may grow gradually or suddenly. Symptoms may involve fever, tiredness, weight loss, new rashes, headaches, backaches, joint pains, and confusion. A new heart murmur as well as new skin, fingernail, and retinal lesions are typical physical findings in endocarditis. Risk factors for children and young adults include birth defects, particularly a defect that allows blood to leak from one part of the heart to another. One risk factor for older people is degeneration of the valves or calcium deposits in the mitral valve or in the aortic valve.
Infective Endocarditis affects twice as many men as women of all ages but 8 times as lots of older men as older women. Damage to the heart by rheumatic fever as a child (rheumatic heart sickness) is also a risk issue. Infective endocarditis is treated with antibiotics and with surgery in some situations. The chosen antibiotic must be specific for the organism causing the condition. Treatment is generally given for 4-6 weeks, depending on the definite type of bacteria. Surgery may be required to replace damage heart valves. Good oral and dental hygiene is also thought to be important.

Heart Defects in Children

Author: Li Ming Wong

A Congenital heart is when a heart develops a problem from before birth. Often this is such things as a hole in the heart. These problems usually develop before anyone is aware that they exist. Heart defects can have a wide degree of severity. There are simple problems such as holes between the chambers of the heart to extreme malformations such as the complete absence of one or more chambers or valves within the heart.

Anyone can have a child with a congenital heart defect. Statistics have shown that out of one thousand births, eight babies will have some form of congenital heart disorder, most of which are mild. If some family members have already had a baby with a heart defect, the risk of having a baby born with a heart disease may well be higher.

This is something that most of the time cannot be predicted. The main reason defects occur is presumed to be genetic, only a few genes have been discovered that have been linked to the presence of heart defects. Rarely the ingestion of some drugs and the occurrence of some infections during pregnancy can cause defects.

Most heart defects in children are congenital. They are usually but not always diagnosed early in life. There are rare case where hear disease in children is not congenital. This type of heart disease is called acquired; examples include Kawasaki disease and rheumatic fever. Children also can be born with or develop heart rate problems such as slow, fast, or irregular heart beats, known as "arrhythmias".

Severe heart disease generally becomes evident during the first few months after birth. Some babies are blue or have very low blood pressure shortly after birth. Other defects may cause breathing difficulties, feeding problems, or poor weight gain.

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Prevention Of Congenital Heart Disease (CHD)

Author: Safron Jeen

It is indeed difficult to deal with this topic. Not much is known about the various causes, for operating on a pregnant woman, in the first three months of pregnancy, during which period, development of the heart in the foetus is expected to be complete.

Under the above circumstances, the best thing would be that all pregnant mothers must undergo a routine ultrasonography, and if some abnormality is suspected, foetal echocardiography must be undertaken for the precise detection of congenital defect in the heart. However, the question of termination of pregnancy must be taken especially in consultation with a heart specialist, or one who is dealing with pediatric cardiac surgery. Many of the congenital lesions of the heart can be satisfactorily treated, though surgically. All aspects of the case must be studied like the number of children, and if the previous offspring have any congenital defect or not, or, if this pregnancy has occurred after a long period of time.

Heredity may play some role in the causation of the disease. If the mother has any congenital defect in her heart, the chances, though minimal, of a defect in the heart of the expected baby may increase. Genetic counselling may help in such cases before the pregnancy is planned.

There are some conditions worth mentioning which must be avoided by a pregnant mother, as there are some likely factors which may disturb the development of the heart in the foetus.

If the mother is diabetic, it must be properly controlled. Diabetes, and even prediabetes, is known to cause congenital defects in the heart. Similarly, if the mother is suffering from epilepsy, the teratogenic effect of antiepileptic drugs must be kept in mind. Therefore, in such cases foetal echocardiography is a must to assess the condition of the heart. Exposure to X rays/radiation should also be avoided.

All pregnant mothers, especially in the first three months of pregnancy, must be prevented from contracting any viral infection, particularly infection caused by the virus of German measles. A good diet is also essential during pregnancy, and in case the individual is taking alcohol, it must be stopped altogether. It may not only cause a congenital defect in the heart, it may also affect the general development of the foetus, especially the brain.

A drug like thalidomide, which is a known teratogenic, and one used in psychiatry, i.e. lithium, should also be stopped.

However, in spite of taking best possible precautions, the child may still be born with some congenital lesion in the heart. Therefore, as stated earlier; a routine ultrasonography and if need be, foetal echocardiography, is a must for all pregnant mothers in their first trimester. This will help them know the exact position of the heart of the foetus they are carrying and whether the pregnancy should be terminated, or continued, though there may be a little congenital lesion in the heart which can be treated/taken care of after the child is born.

It may be concluded that although prescribed precautions must be taken bya pregnant mother, yet detection of a lesion in the heart of the foetus during the period of pregnancy, or after the child is born, or during childhood (if the case has remained undetected earlier), as well as timely treatment/ surgery, will help a lot in improving the overall healthy span of life in such cases. And for all this, a mass consciousness is essentially required for successful completion of this aim.