INFECTIVE ENDOCARDITIS IN DOGS: A REVIEW

Omobowale T.O.*, Otuh P.I., Ogunro B.N., Adejumobi O.A. and Ogunleye A.O.

ABSTRACT

Endocarditis has been defined as exudative and proliferative inflammatory alterations of the endocardium, characterized by the presence of vegetations on the surface of the endocardium or in the endocardium itself, and most commonly involving the heart valves, but also affecting the inner lining of the cardiac chambers or the endocardium elsewhere (Blood et al., 2007). Bacterial endocarditis is an infection of the valvular and or mural endocardium and it may have both cardiac and extra-cardiac sequelae (Brown, 2004). The term, Bacterial Endocarditis (BE) has been replaced with Infectious Endocarditis (IE) since non bacterial isolates have been incriminated in its pathogenesis. BE refers to endocarditis that is caused by infection with various bacteria. Endocarditis (both the term and the disease) is pathophysiologically and epidemiologically unrelated to the most common form of chronic valvular heart disease in dogs known as endocardiosis (Bruce, 2002). Endocardiosis of which there is no specific etiology is characterized by chronic fibrosis and nodular thickening of the free edges of the atrioventricular valves (Blood et al., 2007). IE is an infection of the valvular or mural endocardium with microbe, which may have both cardiac and extracardiac sequelae. (Valerie, 2004) It is a disease that commonly occurs in dogs. The mitral and aortic valves are the worst affected. Common causative microbial agents include Staphylococcus spp, Streptococcus spp, Escherichia coli, and Bartonella spp. Congestive heart failure, immune-mediated disease, and thromboembolism are the major complications of IE. Diagnosis of IE by echocardiography and long-term treatment with broad-spectrum antibiotics may contribute to the timely detection and treatment of the disease.

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