Information for the public
Am I at risk of infective endocarditis?
Am I at risk of infective endocarditis?
Only some heart conditions put you at an increased risk of developing infective endocarditis. These include:
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some types of disease affecting the heart valves
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a condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, in which the muscle wall of the heart becomes thickened
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having had infective endocarditis before
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some types of heart problem present from birth that affect the structure of the heart, even if you have had an operation to correct the problem (but if you have a condition called an isolated atrial septal defect, a repaired ventricular septal defect or a repaired patent ductus arteriosus, you are not at increased risk of infective endocarditis)
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having a replacement heart valve.