Acquired Heart Disease

Infective Endocarditis

Signs and Symptoms
Diagnosis
Treatment

Diagnosis

Since infective endocarditis is associated with preexisting heart conditions, your child's doctor will go over his or her medical history and perform a physical examination. The doctor will check for an enlarged spleen, listen for a new or changing heart murmur, look at the nails and examine the eyes.

Blood tests are key in diagnosing endocarditis and may be run to check the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), complete blood count and multiple blood cultures to detect the bacteria. Depending on the way the illness presents, tests to exclude other diseases may be performed. In addition, your child's doctor may order the following tests:

• Echocardiogram to assess damage to the heart and large blood vessels.

• Chest X-ray to check the size of the heart and look for signs of heart failure.

• Computerized tomography (CT) scan, which provides a three-dimensional image of the heart.

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Children's Hospital.
Last updated May 8, 2007