Cardiac implantable electronic device infection.

Abstract

Cardiac implantable electronic device infections (CIEDI) are an important complication of device implantation associated with significant morbidity, mortality, and cost to the healthcare system. Identifying patients at high risk of device infection is paramount to improving decision making. This includes selecting appropriate devices and implementing adjunctive infection prevention measures, such as antimicrobial envelopes. In addition to meticulous antiseptic surgical technique, several other procedure-related practices can help reduce the risk of device infection. Developing expert centers with multidisciplinary teams capable of device extraction is important to manage patients with CIEDI. In this review, we aim to provide the reader with a succinct overview of CIEDI and summarize new evidence for risk assessment, prevention, diagnosis, and infection management.