• Sara Pichtchoulin, Ingrid Selmeryd, Elisabeth Freyhult, Pär Hedberg, and Jonas Selmeryd.
• Department of Clinical Physiology, Västmanland County Hospital, Västerås, Sweden.
• Ups. J. Med. Sci. 2021 Jan 1; 126.

BackgroundDue to a high incidence of cardiac implantable electronic device-associated infective endocarditis (CIED-IE) in cases of Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) and high mortality with conservative management, guidelines advocate device removal in all subjects with SAB. We aimed to investigate the clinical course of SAB in patients with a CIED (SAB+CIED) in a Swedish county hospital setting and relate it to guideline recommendations.MethodsAll CIED carriers with SAB, excluding clinical pocket infections, in the County of Västmanland during 2010-2017 were reviewed retrospectively.ResultsThere were 61 cases of SAB+CIED during the study period, and CIED-IE was diagnosed in 13/61 (21%) cases. In-hospital death occurred in 19/61 (31%) cases, 34/61 (56%) cases were discharged with CIED device retained, and 8/61 (13%) cases were discharged after device removal. Subjects dying during hospitalization were elderly and diseased. No events was seen if the CIED was removed. Among four discharged cases with conservatively managed CIED-IE one relapse occured. Among 30 cases discharged with retained CIED and no evidence of IE, 22/30 (73%) cases had an uneventful follow-up, whereas adverse events secondary to overlooked CIED-IE were likely in 1/30 (3%) cases and could not be definitely excluded in additionally 4/30 (13%) cases.ConclusionsDuring the study period, management became more active and prognosis improved. The heterogeneity within the population of SAB+CIED suggests that a management strategy based on an individual risk/benefit analysis could be an alternative to mandatory device removal.© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Upsala Medical Society.

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