Cardiac Device Infections and Lead Extraction: A This Week in Cardiology Podcast Recap

This Week in Cardiology’s latest podcast features John Mandrola, MD, who comments on two major topics. One is the increasing problem of cardiac implanted electronic device infections, which arises from more people requiring pacemakers and the use of cardiac resynchronization therapy and implanted cardioverter defibrillators. In one study focusing on the timing of a device infection, the authors found that early systemic infections had a 3-fold increase in mortality, while late local and systemic infections had a 3.5/9 fold increase in risk of death. However, a second study found that the use of transvenous lead extraction was associated with significantly lower mortality. The study reflected on the challenges of getting enough experience in this procedure and the low rate of its current usage.