title: Role of transesophageal echocardiography in detecting implantable cardioverter defibrillator lead infection.
abstract: Implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) lead infection is a rare condition with reported incidence of 0.2% to 16%. It usually presents with persistent bacteremia or fever of unknown origin and requires high clinical suspicion for diagnosis. Whenever ICD lead infection is suspected, transesophageal echocardiography is the diagnostic technique of choice for detection and characterization of the lesions. Lead infections are extremely difficult to manage conservatively and surgical removal of the entire defibrillator system is recommended along with antimicrobial therapy. We describe a case of recurrent staphylococci bacteremia due to an ICD lead infection in a patient with arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, Missouri, USA.
authors.forename: Sanjeev
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wasson
authors.forename: Kul
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aggarwal
authors.forename: Greg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Flaker
authors.forename: Hanumanth K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Reddy
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000209:etiology; D017147:Defibrillators, Implantable / Q000009:adverse effects*; D017548:Echocardiography, Transesophageal; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016106:Methicillin Resistance; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery