Researchers tackling surveillance of infection after cardiac implantable electronic device implantation

Cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIED), such as pacemakers, can be lifesaving, but complex infections following surgical implantation of a device can be serious and even deadly. Although rare, typically occurring in between one and four per cent of surgeries, these infections are devastating for patients and put pressure on the health care system.

Monitoring and tracking these infections is critical for prevention, but a comprehensive surveillance program requires Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) experts to comb through patient charts and test results looking for possible infections, which is time consuming and costly for the medical system.

Dr. Elissa Rennert-May, MD, an infectious diseases physician and member of the Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases at UCalgary's Cumming School of Medicine says although Calgary has implemented a gold standard of infection surveillance for patients who have undergone CIED surgery, the cost of implementing such a program is prohibitive for most centres in Canada.

“Because the process of monitoring and reporting CIED infections is so labour intensive, most sites aren’t able to implement them,” she says, adding there is no national-wide strategy for comprehensive monitoring and reporting of infection following CIED surgery.

Dr. Jenine Leal, PhD, a research scientist working in Infection Prevention and Control, partnered with Rennert-May and cardiologist and researcher Dr. Derek Chew, MD, to tackle the problem of a lack of surveillance across the country. Read more.