[Pacemaker endocarditis]

Pacemaker endocarditis is a rare but serious complication of permanent transvenous pacing. The most common presentation is fever syndrome or gram positive bacteremia. For the diagnostic it is important to performed blood cultures and an echocardiography. A retrospective study included the cases of pacemaker endocarditis diagnosed in the Internal Medicine Department of our Hospital between 1989-2003. Six patients were included. Repeated manipulation of the system and diabetes were the most frequent risk factors. The most frequently detected causative microorganisms were Staphylococci. In spite of the low sensitivity of the transthoracic echocardiography in expert hands it can improve, in this series it places in 66 %. Surgical treatment with cardiopulmonary bypass and implantation of a new system was performed in the same intervention in all patients. None relapsed and the overall mortality was 17%.