VOLUME 18 • NUMBER 2
OCTOBER 2007
Scaling back on antibiotics Most people, even those with heart disease, don’t need to take antibiotics before a routine dental or surgical procedure.
S
ince the 1950s, the American Heart Association (AHA) and other medical organizations have urged a sizable group of people to take antibiotics before having dental work, a colonoscopy, or other procedures that might dump bacteria into the bloodstream. A dose of penicillin, so the thinking went, could prevent infective endocarditis, a potentially serious infection of the lining of the heart. Now, after a hard-nosed look at the latest evidence, an expert panel assembled by the AHA puts much more emphasis on taking care of your teeth and limits preprocedure antibiotics to a smaller group.
stream, it can cause a heart attack or stroke. The organisms that kick off endocarditis tend to come from within. They live on your skin, in your mouth, up your nose, and inside your airways or digestive system. They don’t ordinarily affect the heart because they are usually kept out of the bloodstream, and when they do enter the circulation, they find it tough to latch onto the slick endocardium. Having a tooth extraction, gum surgery, or other dental work causes a temporary spike in the number of bacteria in the bloodstream (a condition called bacteremia). Experts long assumed that this extra load increases the odds of developing infective endocarditis.
Infection from within Infective endocarditis occurs when bacteria or fungi invade the slippery endocardium, the innermost layer of the heart’s chambers. It isn’t common, affecting only about 15,000 Americans a year. But it is potentially deadly, and hard to get rid of. The growing mat of microorganisms can erode heart tissue, making it prone to other infections. It can damage heart valves and lead to heart failure or rhythm problems. If a piece of the growth breaks away and slips into the blood-
INSIDE Driving with a defibrillator . . . . . . . . . 3 New guidelines shorten the “no driving” period for some people who get an implanted cardioverter-defibrillator.
Intervals of intensity make a stronger heart . . 4 When it comes to exercise, interval training offers the best of both worlds.
Sticking it to blood pressure . . . . . . . . . . . 6 If acupuncture really lowers blood pressure, the effect is likely to be small, and is definitely temporary.
Risks and benefits
Heart Beat . . . . . . . . . . 7
Since 1955, the AHA has recommended that people at risk for infective endocarditis take antibiotics before procedures that might release bacteria into the bloodstream. Taking antibiotics as a preventive measure made sense for five reasons:
National decline in heart disease deaths due partly to your efforts; Beans help lower cholesterol; “The Mysterious Human Heart” coming to PBS
1. Infective endocarditis is dangerous.
Does Fosamax cause atrial fibrillation? and Is it safe to fly with heart failure?
2. It is far better to prevent endocarditis than to try to treat it.
Ask the Doctor . . . . . . . 8
Newly Revised
Endocarditis close up Infective endocarditis arises when bacteria, fungi, and other microbes from the mouth, nose, or skin begin to grow on the inner lining of the heart. Common sites for infection are the mitral valve (through which blood enters the left ventricle) and the aortic valve (through which oxygenated blood flows to the body). Infective endocarditis can erode the valves and cause them to leak, which may then lead to heart failure.
Special Health Reports from Harvard Medical School Mitral valve leaflets
Left atrium Aortic valve leaflets
Adult Asthma: Your guide to breathing easier Strength and Power Training: A guide for adults of all ages To order, call 877-649-9457 (toll free) or visit us online at www.health.harvard.edu.
Bacterial growth
Visit us online at www.health.harvard.edu
Left ventricle © Harriet Greenfield
Antibiotics continued
Editor in Chief Thomas H. Lee, MD Editor P.J. Skerrett pjskerrett@hms.harvard.edu Associate Editor Richard T. Lee, MD Editorial Board Eugene Braunwald, MD William P. Castelli, MD Lawrence H. Cohn, MD Roman W. DeSanctis, MD Stephen E. Goldfinger, MD Caitlin Hosmer Kirby, MS, RD Beverly Lorell, MD Jane W. Newburger, MD Patrick T. O’Gara, MD Paul M. Ridker, MD Harvey B. Simon, MD George E. Thibault, MD Walter C. Willett, MD, DrPH Board members are associated with Harvard Medical School and affiliated institutions. They review all published articles. Copy Editor Robin Netherton Art Director Heather Derocher Illustrators Alex Gonzalez Harriet Greenfield Production Coordinator Charmian Lessis
Subscription questions Phone: E-mail: Online: Mail:
877-649-9457 (toll free) harvardHH@strategicfulfillment.com www.health.harvard.edu/subinfo Harvard Heart Letter P.O. Box 9308 Big Sandy, TX 75755-9308 Subscriptions $32 per year (U.S.) Bulk subscriptions StayWell Consumer Health Publishing 1 Atlantic St., Suite 604 Stamford, CT 06901 888-456-1222, ext. 106 (toll free) 203-975-8854, ext. 106 ddewitt@swchp.com Corporate sales and licensing StayWell Consumer Health Publishing 1 Atlantic St., Suite 604 Stamford, CT 06901 jmitchell@staywell.com
Editorial correspondence E-mail: heart _ letter@hms.harvard.edu Letters: Harvard Heart Letter
10 Shattuck St., 2nd Floor Boston, MA 02115
Permissions Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. Online: www.copyright.com
Published by Harvard Health Publications, a division of Harvard Medical School Editor in Chief Anthony L. Komaroff, MD Publishing Director Edward Coburn ©2007 President and Fellows of Harvard College. (ISSN 1051-5313) Proceeds support the research efforts of Harvard Medical School.
Harvard Health Publications 10 Shattuck St., 2nd Floor, Boston, MA 02115 The goal of the Harvard Heart Letter is to interpret medical information for the general reader in a timely and accurate fashion. Its contents are not intended to provide personal medical advice, which should be obtained directly from a physician. We are interested in comments and suggestions about the content; unfortunately, we cannot respond to all inquiries. PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40906010 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO: CIRCULATION DEPT., 1415 JANETTE AVE., WINDSOR, ON N8X 1Z1 E-mail: ddewitt@swchp.com
❷
3. Certain conditions seem to increase the chance of infection. 4. Dental work and other procedures increase the amount of bacteria and fungi in the bloodstream. 5. Antibiotics should prevent these critters from setting up housekeeping in the heart. Number five has been called into question over the last few years. Although there’s no doubt that scraping plaque from teeth, planing gums, or pulling a tooth lets microbes from the mouth flood the bloodstream, some new studies show that chewing food, brushing teeth, flossing, and even using a toothpick do the same thing. Over the course of a year, these daily activities allow far more bacteria to enter the bloodstream than does the occasional dental procedure. By one estimate, your exposure to bacteremia from brushing your teeth twice a day for a year is 154,000 times higher than it is from having a tooth pulled. No large trials have tested whether taking antibiotics before dental work truly prevents endocarditis. If it does, the effect is so small that hundreds of people would need to take antibiotics to prevent a single case of infective endocarditis. Why not take antibiotics “just in case”? Because there are side effects to consider. Antibiotics can cause rashes and diarrhea. They can upset the stomach. Sometimes they are deadly—for every million people who take penicillin, as many as 25 die from an allergic reaction. And a growing number of microorganisms are developing resistance to antibiotics. Given these drawbacks, antibiotic therapy for all would cause more harm than good.
Fewer need antibiotics In light of the evidence, the AHA now recommends preemptory antibiotics only for people at greatest danger from infective endocarditis (see “Who needs antibiotics before dental work?”). They aren’t needed for all types of dentistry, and they aren’t needed for colonoscopies
Harvard Heart Letter | October 2007
or other routine gastrointestinal procedures, either. These changes mean that many people who, under the old guidelines, were urged to take antibiotics before dental work no longer need them. You no longer need to take pre-dentistry antibiotics if you have mitral valve prolapse or another valve disease, rheumatic heart disease, a defect in the septum (the wall separating the two sides of the heart), hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or other forms of heart disease. Sticking with the theme of “prevention is more important than treatment,” the AHA panel emphasized the importance of routine oral health. Brushing teeth and flossing, along with regular visits to the dentist, limit the growth of bacteria in the mouth and the inflammation that allows them to get into the bloodstream. This appears to be a better way to prevent endocarditis than taking antibiotics before a dental procedure.
Who needs antibiotics before dental work? The American Heart Association panel recommends taking antibiotics before dental work or a procedure on the nose, lungs, or infected skin or muscle only if • you have an artificial heart valve (biological or mechanical) • you’ve had infective endocarditis before • you have a congenital heart disease that has not yet been repaired, that was fixed with a device or artificial material, or that was fixed but still causes some problems • you’ve received a heart transplant and have developed a valve problem. Antibiotics are needed only before a procedure in which the gums or teeth are poked, prodded, or pulled, or in which the gums or skin of the mouth might be broken. This includes tooth extraction, teeth cleaning, gum planing, and similar procedures. Antibiotics aren’t needed before dental x-rays, the placement or adjustment of braces, bridges, or dentures, or other procedures that aren’t likely to break the skin.
www.health.harvard.edu