What is bacterial endocarditis?
Bacterial endocarditis is an infection of the heart's inner lining that can damage and/or destroy your heart valves. It occurs when bacteria in the blood stream lodge on damaged heart tissue or abnormal heart valves. Bacteria in the blood stream, or bacteremia, is common after many invasive procedures like surgery, but only certain bacteria cause endocarditis.

What causes bacterial endocarditis?
People with preexisting heart conditions such as having a prosthetic heart valve, previous endocarditis, damaged heart valves from conditions such as rheumatic fever, congenital heart defects, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and heart transplant patients what develop heart valve abnormalities are at the highest risk for developing bacterial endocarditis. It rarely occurs in people with normal, healthy hearts. Many of the congenital heart defects that raise the risk for contracting bacterial endocarditis can be treated surgically, and after treatment, the risk for endocarditis is eliminated.