<b> <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> Bacteremia in Patients With Permanent Pacemakers or Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillators </b>

Abstract

The incidence of CDI among patients with SAB and cardiac devices is high. Neither physical examination nor echocardiography can exclude the possibility of CDI. In patients with early SAB, the device is usually involved, and approximately 40% of these patients have obvious clinical signs of cardiac device involvement. Conversely, in patients with late SAB, the cardiac device is rarely the initial source of bacteremia, and there is a paucity of local signs of device involvement. The cardiac device is involved, however, in >/=28% of these patients.