A 6-year analysis of cardiovascular implantable electronic device-related endocarditis

Aim: Advances in interventional cardiology have increased the frequency of use of devices such as cardiovascular implanted electronic devices (CIED) used in cardiac arrhythmias.Endocarditis due to these devices increases morbidity and mortality.Material and Methods: Demographic data, laboratory tests, results of blood cultures, transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) data of 48 patients who developed infective endocarditis due to CIED in our hospital between January 1, 2013 and March 1, 2019 were retrospectively analyzed.Results: A total of 48 patients were included in this study.The ratio of females (n=24) and males (n=24) was equal.The mean age of all patients was 55 years.In the surviving patients, in order of frequency of occurrence, hypertension (HT) was in 13 patients (86%), chronic renal failure (CKD) in 9 patients (47%), and diabetes mellitus (DM) in 8 patients (72%).Of the patients who died, 10 (52%) had CRF, 3 (27%) had DM, 2 (66%) had HT and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).The most common symptoms in surviving patients were, respectively, fever in 26 (78%), malaise in 19 (76%), respiratory distress in 11 (61%).The most common symptoms in deceased patients were respiratory distress in 7 (%38), fever in 7 (21%), fatigue in 6 (%24); 14 (29%) of the patients referred to our clinic started antibiotic treatment at an external center.Growth was detected in 26 (54%) of all blood cultures.The most frequently isolated pathogens were, respectively, Staphylococcus aureus (n=11) 42%, Streptococcus spp.(n=6) 23%, Enterococcus faecium (n=4) 15%, Citrobacter spp.(n=2) 7%, Diphtheroid spp.(n=1) 3%, Acinetobacter baumannii (n=1) 3%, Brucella mitis (n=1) 3%.Vegetation was observed on the lead in 13 (27%) performed TTEs and/or TEEs.From the time of diagnosis, the average time of surgery was 6 days in surviving patients and 11 days in patients who died.Discussion: The number of studies and cases related to endocarditis due to CIEDs is limited in our country.Although CIED-related endocarditis is a rare complication of cardiac device implantation, its morbidity and mortality remain high.