The three of them exchanged a look.
Another classmate said, "Isn't this that patient?"
Zhaxi's heartbeat sped up. "But how does a Clostridium difficile infection cause an aneurysm?"
Zhaxi kept scrolling down. "The literature says that C. difficile infects the intestinal tract and destroys the intestinal mucosal barrier, allowing bacteria to enter the bloodstream. Once in the blood, if there's damage to the heart valves, it causes endocarditis; if there's damage to the vessel wall, it causes an infective aneurysm."
He paused and pointed at the screen. "Look at this figure—the formation process of an infective aneurysm. Bacteria adhere to the blood vessels, causing local inflammation, the vessel wall gets destroyed, slowly bulges out, and forms an aneurysm. This process can go on for months, and it's only discovered when it ruptures."
A thought suddenly flashed through Zhaxi's mind.
