Risks of Body Piercing to People with Heart Conditions

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Risks of Body Piercing to People with Heart Conditions

ROCHESTER, MINN. -- A recent Mayo Clinic study has found that nearly one out of four people at higher risk for heart valve infection who have parts of their body pierced suffer from infection as a result of the piercing. Only six percent took antibiotics preventively to fend off an infection.

The 445 patients included in the study all had a congenital heart disease and were at increased risk of getting endocarditis (EN-doe-kar-DY-tis), an infection of the heart valves. Congenital heart disease affects over one million adults in the United States.

"Bacterial endocarditis is a serious, difficult-to-treat, and potentially life-threatening condition," says Carole Warnes, M.D., a Mayo Clinic cardiologist and lead author of the study. "But the good news is that some cases may be prevented with the use of preventive doses of antibiotics whenever a person undergoes piercing that carries a risk of this type of infection."

The study also indicated that 60 percent of physicians believe that preventive antibiotics should be used by patients with heart disease who have body piercing or tattooing. These procedures should be sterile procedures. However, the sterile nature of the procedure varies depending upon the technique and needles used.

Those at greatest risk of infectious endocarditis, also called bacterial endocarditis, are people with damaged heart valves (congenital, or the result of rheumatic fever) or prosthetic heart valves. The infection may enter the bloodstream during seemingly minor procedures such as body piercing or routine dental work.

Because body piercing involves breaching one of the body's main protective barriers -- the skin -- it brings with it a high risk of infection if done improperly. Risks include hepatitis, tetanus and HIV. Less serious local infections can cause illness, deformity and scarring.

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