Endocarditis symptoms


 * Associate Editors-in-Chief:

Symptoms Frequency Across All Subtypes of Endocarditis

 * Fever 80 - 85%, often spiking
 * Chills 42 - 75%
 * Anorexia 25 - 55%
 * Malaise 25 - 40%
 * Weight loss 25 - 35%
 * Back pain
 * Flank pain due to renal embolization
 * Stroke may be present in 10 - 15% of patients as a result of cerebral embolization
 * Chest pain may be present as a result of embolzation in the coronary artery. The infarcts are usually not transmural. Pulmonary emboli, often septic, occur in 75% of patients with tricuspid endocarditis
 * Abdominal pain may be present due to mesenteric embolization or ileus
 * Blindness may be present due to retinal embolization in 3% of patients

Subacute Bacterial Endocarditis (SBE)

 * Insidious onset
 * Fever
 * Sweats
 * Weakness
 * Myalgias
 * Arthralgias
 * Malaise
 * Anorexia
 * Fatigue
 * Splenomegaly, clubbing, and Oslers nodes in long-standing SBE

Acute Bacterial Endocarditis

 * Abrupt onset
 * Rigors
 * Fevers as high as 102.9° to 105.1° F (39.4° to 40.6° C), often remittent

Endocarditis Associated with Parenteral Drug Use

 * High fevers, chills, rigors, malaise, cough, and pleuritic chest pain
 * Septic pulmonary emboli causing sputum production, hemoptysis, and signs suggesting pneumonia
 * Cardiac murmurs
 * Tricuspid insufficiency
 * Metastatic infections such as renal or brain abscess
 * Neurologic manifestations such as stroke, TIA, seizures
 * Peripheral emboli

Prosthetic Valve Endocarditis

 * Occurs in 1%–2% of cases at 1 yr and in 4%–5% of cases at 4 yr after implantation
 * Infection of perivalvular tissues
 * New symptoms consistent with valvular regurgitation such as shortness of breath
 * Myocardial abscesses
 * Fever
 * Petechiae, Roth's spots, Osler's nodes, Janeway lesions
 * Emboli