Infections Associated with Resterilized Pacemakers and Defibrillators

• Published in: The New England journal of medicine Vol. 382; no. 19; pp. 1823 - 1831
• Main Authors: Khairy, Thomas F, Lupien, Marie-Andrée, Nava, Santiago, Baez, Frank Valdez, Ovalle, Fernando Solares, Ochoa, Nery E. Linarez, Mendoza, Gerardo Sosa, Carrazco, Cesar A, Villemaire, Christine, Cartier, Richard, Roy, Denis, Talajic, Mario, Dubuc, Marc, Thibault, Bernard, Guerra, Peter G, Rivard, Lena, Dyrda, Katia, Mondésert, Blandine, Tadros, Rafik, Cadrin-Tourigny, Julia, Macle, Laurent, Khairy, Paul
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Massachusetts Medical Society 07-05-2020
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Case-Control Studies; Defibrillators; Defibrillators, Implantable - adverse effects; Developing Countries; Equipment Reuse; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Heart; Humans; Incidence; Infections; Infections - epidemiology; Infections - etiology; Kaplan-Meier Estimate; Male; Middle Aged; Mortality; Pacemaker, Artificial - adverse effects; Pacemakers; Patients; Risk Factors; Sterilization; Surgery; Cuba; Ecuador; Canada; Quebec Canada; Guatemala; Dominican Republic; Mexico; Montreal Quebec Canada; Honduras
• ISSN: 0028-4793; 1533-4406
• DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1813876

Pacemakers and defibrillators were explanted post mortem in Canada, tested and resterilized, and implanted in patients in underserved countries. The incidence of infection at 2 years among patients with reused devices was not significantly different from that among matched control patients who received new devices.