Posted on 2/4/2016
Injection drug users who undergo surgery for infective endocarditis (IE) have a significantly higher risk of reoperation or death between three and six months after surgery compared to patients who develop endocarditis who are not IV drug abusers, according to an article in the September 2015 issue of the Annals of Thoracic Surgery.
IE is an infection caused by bacteria that enter the bloodstream and get into the heart lining, a heart valve, or a blood vessel. Previously, the main risk factor for IE was rheumatic heart disease but recent research has shown that other risk factors have gained prominence, including injection drug use (IDU), prosthetic valve infection, degenerative valvular disease, an...