Question:medium
Vegetation on the mitral valve is most characteristically seen in which condition?
Vegetation on the mitral valve is most characteristically seen in which condition?
Show Hint
Which lesion contains living microorganisms within the platelet-fibrin mass?
Updated On: Jun 23, 2026
- Libman-Sacks endocarditis
- Infective endocarditis
- Non-bacterial thrombotic endocarditis (NBTE)
- Rheumatic fever
Show Solution
The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
Compare-and-contrast angle: the four options are essentially the four classic causes of valvular vegetations, so the trick is matching the buzzword.
The defining feature of infective endocarditis is a bulky vegetation that actually contains microorganisms, formed of platelets, fibrin and bacterial colonies, capable of destroying the valve and throwing septic emboli. That is the lesion the word vegetation evokes first.
Now place the rest. Libman-Sacks endocarditis of lupus gives small sterile warty lesions on either side of the leaflets. NBTE (marantic endocarditis) appears in cancer and severe illness as small sterile clumps along the closure line. Rheumatic carditis produces tiny verrucae along the closure line and, over years, fibrous valve thickening. All three are sterile and smaller.
So when a question simply says vegetation on the mitral valve, the intended answer is infective endocarditis.
Ref: Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease, 10e.
The defining feature of infective endocarditis is a bulky vegetation that actually contains microorganisms, formed of platelets, fibrin and bacterial colonies, capable of destroying the valve and throwing septic emboli. That is the lesion the word vegetation evokes first.
Now place the rest. Libman-Sacks endocarditis of lupus gives small sterile warty lesions on either side of the leaflets. NBTE (marantic endocarditis) appears in cancer and severe illness as small sterile clumps along the closure line. Rheumatic carditis produces tiny verrucae along the closure line and, over years, fibrous valve thickening. All three are sterile and smaller.
So when a question simply says vegetation on the mitral valve, the intended answer is infective endocarditis.
Ref: Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease, 10e.
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