Endocarditis describes any inflammation of the interior layers of heart tissue (the endocardium), including the heart valves. These tissues are special in that they contain no capilliaries, the blood instead being supplied to the muscles in the rest of the heart through the coronary artery. Although there are limited ways that these tissues can become inflamed, because they have no dedicated blood supply, once inflammation occurs it is slow to heal and difficult to treat. Endocarditis is usually detected with an echocardiogram. There are two general causes of endocarditis: