Doctors at Mayo Clinic have developed a new way to treat right-sided infective endocarditis using a catheter, thereby avoiding surgery.
The new catheter-based approach quickly draws out resistant pockets of infection, limiting risks to heart valves and other organs.
High-risk patients, such as those with weak immune systems from transplants or cancer treatment, have limited options for treating severe infections in heart valves.
People who use IV drugs and those with devices like pacemakers or artificial heart valves are also at prone to these infections.
This recent study involved patients across 19 US sites who were either unable to have surgery or had not seen any improvement with antibiotics; about half of the 285 participants were IV drug users. The findings show that over 90% of patients treated with this method cleared their infections.
They also had lower chances of dying in the hospital than those whose infections didn’t go away.
The study focused on high-risk patients who faced significant risks with open-heart surgery.
Abdallah El Sabbagh, an interventional cardiologist at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, was the study’s principal investigator and found that using a catheter to remove the infection can significantly improve patients’ response to antibiotics afterwards.
He explained: ‘Our research findings show that using a catheter to draw out most of the heart infection potentially made a significant difference in a patient's response to antibiotic therapy afterwards to clear up the infection. The participants in this study were all high-risk patients, and most were not responding to antibiotic therapy alone and were considered to have significant risks with open heart surgery. We showed that minimally invasive catheter-based aspiration of the infection is feasible and successful and may help a significant population of patients who otherwise have no alternative therapeutic options.’
The catheter-based system was initially developed to remove blood clots from the lungs without surgery. While its off-label use for infective endocarditis shows potential as a safe and effective option, Dr El Sabbagh notes that further prospective study is needed.
