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Teen gets piercing-related heart infection
March 11 (Reuters Health) - A 13-year-old girl who was born with heart disease contracted a life-threatening infection of the membrane lining her heart soon after having her navel pierced, Michigan doctors report.
While there are no existing recommendations on whether people with such congenital heart conditions should take antibiotics preventively before having a piercing or tattoo, the researchers note, the girl's case suggests that they should be warned about the risks of such infections, known as endocarditis.
Infective endocarditis, currently the fourth leading cause of infection-related death in the United States, occurs when bacteria or fungus colonizes the valves of the heart. If left untreated, it can lead to a fatal destruction of heart muscle.
In recent years, there have been repeated reports of people developing infectious endocarditis after body piercing, the authors note. But this is the first case of a person with a history of congenital heart disease developing the condition after navel piercing, they add.
People with heart-related abnormalities are advised to take antibiotics whenever they are having invasive procedures, such as surgery or dental work, because bacteria can gain access to the bloodstream. Once inside the body, the bacteria can take hold in the heart, causing endocarditis.
Writing in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, Drs. Jason B. Weinberg and R. Alexander Blackwood of the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor report on the case of the 13-year-old girl, who became seriously ill one month after piercing her own navel.
The girl went to her doctor when she became very ill with a fever and was admitted to a pediatric intensive care unit. The doctors learned that the girl had been born with a heart malformation that was surgically corrected when she was 3 years old. The girl reported having pierced her navel a month prior to her illness, but said she removed the navel ring two days after performing the piercing because she thought it looked infected.
Tests identified an infection with Staphylococcus aureus in one of the valves in her heart. The girl was treated with antibiotics as well as heart surgery and was released from the hospital after 22 days.
Since piercing of the navel and other parts of the body do carry a risk of endocarditis to patients born with heart malformations, the researchers note, these patients should be warned of this potential complication, as well as other more common piercing risks.
If Brittany she has ANY piercing ever her ears DEMAND antibiotics!!!!!! Print this and save it.!
SOURCE: The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal 2003;22:94- 96.
March 11 (Reuters Health) - A 13-year-old girl who was born with heart disease contracted a life-threatening infection of the membrane lining her heart soon after having her navel pierced, Michigan doctors report.
While there are no existing recommendations on whether people with such congenital heart conditions should take antibiotics preventively before having a piercing or tattoo, the researchers note, the girl's case suggests that they should be warned about the risks of such infections, known as endocarditis.
Infective endocarditis, currently the fourth leading cause of infection-related death in the United States, occurs when bacteria or fungus colonizes the valves of the heart. If left untreated, it can lead to a fatal destruction of heart muscle.
In recent years, there have been repeated reports of people developing infectious endocarditis after body piercing, the authors note. But this is the first case of a person with a history of congenital heart disease developing the condition after navel piercing, they add.
People with heart-related abnormalities are advised to take antibiotics whenever they are having invasive procedures, such as surgery or dental work, because bacteria can gain access to the bloodstream. Once inside the body, the bacteria can take hold in the heart, causing endocarditis.
Writing in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, Drs. Jason B. Weinberg and R. Alexander Blackwood of the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor report on the case of the 13-year-old girl, who became seriously ill one month after piercing her own navel.
The girl went to her doctor when she became very ill with a fever and was admitted to a pediatric intensive care unit. The doctors learned that the girl had been born with a heart malformation that was surgically corrected when she was 3 years old. The girl reported having pierced her navel a month prior to her illness, but said she removed the navel ring two days after performing the piercing because she thought it looked infected.
Tests identified an infection with Staphylococcus aureus in one of the valves in her heart. The girl was treated with antibiotics as well as heart surgery and was released from the hospital after 22 days.
Since piercing of the navel and other parts of the body do carry a risk of endocarditis to patients born with heart malformations, the researchers note, these patients should be warned of this potential complication, as well as other more common piercing risks.
If Brittany she has ANY piercing ever her ears DEMAND antibiotics!!!!!! Print this and save it.!
SOURCE: The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal 2003;22:94- 96.
