Editorial commentary: Intravenous drug abuse and infectious endocarditis

• Published in: Trends in cardiovascular medicine Vol. 30; no. 8; pp. 498 - 499
• Main Authors: DeSimone, Daniel C., DeSimone, Christopher V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.11.2020; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Age; Antibiotics; Biomarkers; Coronary artery disease; Decision making; Dialysis; Disease; Drug abuse; Drug addiction; Drug use; Drug Users; Endocarditis; Endocarditis - diagnosis; Endocarditis, Bacterial - diagnosis; Endocarditis, Bacterial - drug therapy; Gastrointestinal surgery; Heart; Heart diseases; Humans; Immunosuppression; Intravenous administration; Kidney diseases; Mortality; Narcotics; Patients; Prostheses; Public health; Quality of life; Rehabilitation; Rheumatic heart disease; Staphylococcus infections; Substance abuse treatment; Substance Abuse, Intravenous
• ISSN: 1050-1738; 1873-2615
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tcm.2019.12.001

IE is traditionally seen in older adults with comorbidities such as immunosuppression, kidney disease on dialysis, indwelling cardiac implantable devices, prosthetic cardiac valves, congenital heart disease, as well as IVDU. [...]referral for addiction services and drug rehabilitation is recommended to prevent recidivism. If such infrastructure is not available at an institution, these patients should be referred to a tertiary care center with such expertise.The lack of a systematic approach to treatment is a public health concern What we propose are the following aspects for successful treatment to this societal dilemma: (1)Intense inpatient drug rehabilitation in all patients with IVDU and IE – this would be mandatory post IE treatment in IVDU, especially if a prosthetic heart valve is placed.