Fw: Implanted Devices post infection risk ...

[Guest guest]

From: " by way of ilena rose " <Gigir1234@...>

Sent: Saturday, September 01, 2001 11:30 AM

Subject: Implanted Devices post infection risk ...

> Repost: already know BI's often infected even if low grade: read this!

>

> Heart devices pose infection risk, study says

> By Doering

>

>

> WASHINGTON, Aug 27, 2001 (Reuters) - Patients who receive pacemakers and

> other devices to correct heart irregularities could be at risk for serious

> illness or death if harmful bacteria spread to their implant, researchers

> said on Monday.

>

> Scientists at Duke University found that patients whose bloodstream was

> infected with bacteria from pneumonia, skin infections, ulcers or other

> sources had about a 50 percent chance the infection would later spread to

> their implanted cardiac device.

>

> Damage to a pacemaker, a tool that maintains a regular heartbeat, or an

> implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD), which monitors and sends

> electric shocks to correct abnormal heart rhythms, can be deadly if not

> treated soon after they become infected.

>

> The bacteria, which continues to multiply after it has latched onto the

> device, can eventually overwhelm the body, causing it to go into shock and

> the person to die.

>

> " The major finding is that if someone has this type of infection, you

should

> be worried or concerned that the device is infected as well, " Dr.

> Chamis of Duke University told Reuters.

>

> " Once it gets on the device it's hard to get rid of, " she said.

>

> Chamis and her colleagues examined 33 individuals with pacemakers or ICDs

who

> had developed an infection. The bacteria had spread to the device in 15 of

> those individuals.

>

> A major finding in the study showed that replacing the pacemaker or ICD is

> more effective in reducing the chance of death for the patient then

> antibiotic treatment.

>

> The device was removed in 12 of the 33 patients studied, while the

remaining

> 21 received antibiotic therapy. The data showed two people who had the

device

> removed died compared to 10 who were administered the therapy.

>

> The findings were published in Circulation, an American Heart Association

> journal.

>

> Pacemaker and ICD surgeries are common procedures in the United States.

> According to the American Heart Association, 170,000 pacemakers and 26,000

> ICDs were implanted in 1998, the most recent year for which data are

> available.

>

> " People have long thought you could treat these infections with

antibiotics,

> but it is difficult to do that, and infection necessitates removal " of the

> cardiac device, Chamis said.

>

> Infectious bacteria usually enter the body through an open cut or wound.

They

> can spread to adjacent tissue or to distant internal organs, such as the

> heart or kidneys, where it can become life-threatening.

>

> Previous studies have shown that cardiac device infections can occur in up

to

> 20 percent of pacemakers and 1.3 percent of ICDs.

>

> The infection often is difficult to detect, producing abnormal growths,

> redness or inflammation only 40 percent of the time.

>

> Chamis said monitoring for an infection within the body, and helping to

> determine whether an implanted device should be removed, could be done by

> administering a blood test.

>

> Patients who have received a cardiac device also can watch for symptoms

> common with bacteria infections such as fever.

>

>

>