label: Cardiac valve vegetations
label_lc: cardiac valve vegetations
description: "Endocarditis infection occurs along the edges of the heart valves. Damage to the cardiac endothelium followed by platelet and fibrin deposition results in a sterile lesion known as nonbacterial thrombotic endocarditis (NBTE) or vegetation. Microbes entering the bloodstream via routine or invasive procedures adhere to the vegetation and are engulfed in an outer meshwork of fibrin and platelets. Subsequent rapid microbial multiplication in a protected area of impaired host defense leads to vegetation growth and continuous bacteremia."