The American Heart Association published a new report on cardiac implantable electronic device infections after finding a gap between guidelines for treatment and actual patient care.
The report identifies areas for improvement in guideline implementation and provides recommendations for action based on three categories:
- Prevention, detection and diagnosis
- Improving treatment and management of CIED infection
- Awareness and education
"CIED infections, although not frequent, are not rare either, and recent research shows just 1 in 5 patients with a CIED infection has the device fully removed. The cost is pain, hospitalization, surgery and, when not recognized and treated appropriately, death. Although effective therapies are available, many of these infections are not detected or treated according to guidelines," Bruce Wilkoff, MD, volunteer chair of the American Heart Association CIED Infection Summit planning group and director of cardiac pacing and tachyarrhythmia devices at Cleveland Clinic, said in a Sept. 1 news release shared with Becker's.