Infection after cardiac device implantation ‘can triple mortality risk’

Rates of infection were highest in first three months after cardiac implantable electronic device procedures, study shows.

Patients with early systemic or delayed localised infections after cardiac implantable electronic device procedures have a threefold higher risk of death within a year compared to those without infection, cardiologists report.

Results from their prospective observational cohort study also point to a ninefold greater risk of death with delayed systemic infections, while early localised infections carried no mortality risk.