What is Bacterial Endocarditis? Symptoms explored as Ohio man's misdiagnosis leads to open heart surgery

After having his damaged tooth extracted, a man from Ohio was diagnosed with Bacterial Endocarditis. After being misdiagnosed with the flu, Brandon Baker Initially learned that he had a serious blood infection affecting his entire body that he discovered while traveling to work.

However, soon after his first treatment, Brandon's health began to worsen and he was taken to a state hospital where physicians diagnosed him with bacterial endocarditis. This is a serious, near-septic blood infection that affects the entire body.

Bacterial endocarditis is defined as a “life-threatening inflammation of the inner lining of the heart’s chambers and valves” by the Mayo Clinic. This illness affects the heart valves, which may malfunction in a patient with this disease. The heart may have to pump blood to the body more vigorously as a result. As the heart's capacity to pump blood is limited, the disease may prove to be fatal for some patients.

---

Bacterial Endocarditis is a severe infection involving heart valves

Brandon Baker was diagnosed with Bacterial Endocarditis (Image via Mayo clinic / Tiktok / @baker.reads)

Infections are typically the cause of endocarditis. Germs such as fungi, bacteria, or other microorganisms enter the bloodstream and stick to heart valves. Artificial heart valves, damaged heart valves, and other cardiac abnormalities increase the risk of endocarditis. In addition, if this disease is left untreated, it can result in death in a matter of weeks.

It may also lead to the bacteria in the blood clumping together with other substances and cells. Vegetations are another term for these clusters. They have the ability to spread to other bodily locations and cause issues like thy did for Brandon Baker.

Men are more likely to develop bacterial endocarditis than women. While healthy individuals without any other risk factors, are unlikely to experience this infection, there is a chance that they might be diagnosed with it. However, those with specific heart conditions or other risk factors are far more likely to experience it. Sometimes the symptoms are severe and appear suddenly.

---

More details about Baker and his medical condition

Brandon Baker, from Ohio, recently posted a TikTok video where he opened up about the infection and being diagnosed with it. He said that it all began with him feeling sick on his way to work on days. He spoke about how he had to visit the emergency after he passed out in the shower one morning.

He noted that he soon began losing weight and claimed that over the next few weeks, he noted that he lost as many as 50 pounds.

Following his shift to a state hospital, Baker was given an unexpected diagnosis. He was initial diagnosis was flu, however, it later turned out to be Bacterial Endocarditis.

This potentially fatal illness results in inflammation of the heart's valves and chambers. One of his mitral valve leaflets had a severe infection, which the doctors detected.

Baker also had a pulled and damaged tooth, which he thinks might be the potential cause of his illness. In the TikTok video, he also said that he had never felt like that in his entire life. He added that he went to the doctor as many times as it was needed.

After two weeks of the diagnosis, Baker had to undergo an open heart surgery to replace the affected leaflet that had become infected and damaged. He was left with a debt of more than $830,000 as a result of the open heart surgery. Having said that, Baker’s current health condition is unknown.