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Cardiovascular implantable electronic device (CIED) infections are on the increase. When they occur, removal of all hardware is recommended but cannot always be achieved. Patients who retain their devices are typically given chronic antimicrobial suppression (CAS). Thus far, outcomes data for this approach are scarce.
To find out more, researchers at Mayo Clinic performed a retrospective analysis involving 48 adults (median age, 78) with a diagnosis of infected CIED to be managed with device retention and CAS between 2005 and 2015. Forty patients (83%) retained their devices because of comorbidities or high surgical risk; another five (10%) declined device removal. Blood cultures were positive in 42 patients (88%), including coagulase-negati…