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Published on: January 7, 2019
Cardiac device infections complicated by erosion
Vivian Tsai1, Henry Chen, Henry Hsia
1Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
Device erosion in pacemaker and implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) patients is linked to non-systemic infections. This association may influence decisions regarding device re-implantation timing.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Medical Device Technology
- Infectious Disease
Background:
- Pacemaker and implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) implantation can lead to complications such as infection and device erosion.
- Clinical differences between patients with and without device erosion remain unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the clinical features associated with device erosion in patients with infected pacemakers or ICDs.
- To determine if specific patient characteristics correlate with the development of erosion.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective review of patient records for pacemaker or defibrillator explantation from January 2000 to May 2005.
- Analysis of demographic (age, gender, BMI) and clinical variables related to erosion and procedures.
Main Results:
- Seventy-two patients with infected devices were identified.
- Device erosion occurred in 30 (42%) of these cases, with higher rates in pacemaker (50%) compared to ICD (29%) infections.
Conclusions:
- Device erosion is significantly associated with non-systemic infections.
- Findings may impact the timing of device re-implantation in infected patients.
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