Heart patients warned of possible infection
Ottawa facility’s surgery device possible cause
OTTAWA • The University of Ottawa Heart Institute has sent letters to 5,100 patients warning them they may have been exposed to an infection during open-heart surgery.
The letters were sent over the past 10 days to patients who were on bypass machines during open- heart surgery from 2012 to 2016, t he i nstitute confirmed Thursday.
Heather Sherrard, the institute’s executive vice-president of clinical operations, said the risk to patients of becoming infected with non-tuberculosis mycobacterium ( NTM) transmitted by the heater- cooler devices used during cardiac surgery, was very low — estimated at less than one per cent.
Health Canada has reported that devices used to heat and cool patients’ blood during surgery — which the institute uses during heart surgery when patients are on a bypass machine — have been linked with a rare bacterial infection caused by mycobacterium chimaera, a type of NTM. Hospitals around the country have been warning patients about possible exposure.
“This infection is very slow growing and hard to diagnose,” said the letter to patients, signed by Sherrard and Dr. Marc Ruel, head of cardiac surgery at the institute. “NTM bacteria is commonly found in the environment and rarely causes complications. It cannot be spread person to person. However, for people who have been exposed to the bacteria during open- heart surgery, symptoms of this infection may appear several months or even years after surgery.”
Nontuberculous mycobacteria are naturally occurring organism found in water and soil. Most people infected will not become ill, but in susceptible individuals who become infected the result can be a serious disease that is difficult to treat.
Patients are being warned to see a physician if they are suffering from any related symptoms, including night sweats, achy muscles, weight loss, fatigue and fever.
Sherrard noted t hose symptoms can also be associated with many other illnesses and it is likely physicians would rule out other possibilities first. There is a laboratory test to confirm NTM infection.