IE is defined as an infection of the endocardial surface of the heart, which may include 1 or more heart valves, the mural endocardium, or a septal defect. The history of IE can be divided into several eras. In 1674, Lazaire Riviere first described the gross autopsy findings of the disease in his monumental work Opera Medica Universa. In 1885, William Osler presented the first comprehensive description of endocarditis in English. Lerner and Weinstein presented a thorough discussion of this disease in their landmark series of articles, “Infective Endocarditis in the Antibiotic Era.” [1, 2, 3]. These authors documented that IE was most commonly subacute in nature with streptococci and enterococci as the most common pathogens. Rheumatic fever or congenital heart disease were the most frequent underlying valvular abnormalities. Accordingly, it manifested itself in young adulthood.
In the late 1980s, the nature of IE fundamentally changed. This was brought about by the ever-increasing availability of prosthetic heart valves, intracardiac pacemakers, and Swan-Ganz catheters. It became much more acute in nature and affected older individuals with a wider spectrum of pathogens. These included especially S aureus, both MSSA and MRSA, gram negative rods, and fungi. IE can appropriately be described as infective endocarditis in the era of intravascular devices that is intensified by changes in the gut and oral microbiome and by the widespread inflammatory response initiated by many of the valvular pathogens. IE continues to pose significant clinical challenges, [4, 5, 6], with an overall mortality rate of 30%.
SBE results from "wear and tear" platelet/fibrin microthrombi of the endothelial surface of the heart. [5]
IE develops when a transient bacteremia seeds this thrombus. Pathologic effects of infection can include local tissue destruction and embolic phenomena. Secondary autoimmune effects, such as immune complex glomerulonephritis and vasculitis, can also occur.
Types of infective endocarditis
Endocarditis has evolved into several variations, keeping it near the top of the list of diseases that must not be misdiagnosed or overlooked. Endocarditis can be broken down into the following categories [5, 6, 7]
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Native valve endocarditis (NVE), acute and subacute
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Prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE), [6, 7] early and late
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Intravenous drug abuse (IVDA) endocarditis
Aim of the study:
Assessing medical students’ awareness and knowledge about endocarditis is essential, to ensure the provision of the necessary health care to patients with this disease. Our aim in this study is to evaluate awareness among students of the Faculty of Medicine at the Syrian Private University about endocarditis.
Methods: A cross-sectional study, conducted at the Syrian Private University, included 240 male and female students from 6/7/2023 to 8/26/2023. Inclusion criteria: Students at the Syrian Private University, Faculty of Medicine. Data collection tool: A questionnaire was prepared that contains questions that serve the purpose of the research.
Statistical analysis
The data was entered into a SPSS file version 25 to be analyzed and the results of this study found. Where the descriptive analysis (frequencies and percentages) was found for all variables in the study, and the inferential analysis included the study of the existence of relationships and correlations between many of the studied variables using Chi-square tests.