A Canadian health agency is warning about bacterial infection after open heart surgery to patients who have had heart surgery at Eastern Health.

Health Canada issued a warning to all heart surgery patients of Eastern Health who have undergone open heart surgery since 2012. Eastern Health is a regional health authority in Canada’s Newfoundland and Labrador regions. It serves over 300,000 Canadian citizens locally and is also responsible for a number of other provincial programs.

This warning about bacterial infection after open heart surgery was issued late in 2016 after reports of a certain bacteria being present in a medical device that is used during open heart surgery.

Health Canada says, “Recently, Health Canada has received Canadian reports of possible NTM infections in patients with a history of cardiothoracic surgery involving the use of heater-cooler devices. The root causes for these cases are under investigation.”

Cardiac heater cooler devices are used all over North America during open heart surgeries. The purpose of a cardiac heater cooler is to help regulate the body temperature of patients while they are undergoing open heart surgeries. It uses water to heat or cool a patient, but water never comes into contact with the patient.

They are non-sterile devices that provide water to other medical devices such as heat exchangers or warming and cooling blankets through closed circuits.

It has been reported that the water in certain heater cooler devices, however, may have been infected with an uncommon form of bacteria. This bacteria is nontuberculous mycobacterium, or NTM.

When water is aerosolized, this bacteria can become airborne and thereby come into contact with the patient.

A news release by Eastern Health says, “The infection could result from the transfer via aerosolization of NTM-contaminated water contained in the heater-cooler devices into the operating room and into patients during surgery. NTM infections potentially associated with heater-cooler devices have been diagnosed months to years after cardiothoracic surgery.”

It is thought that many of these devices were contaminated where they were manufactured. One cardiac heater cooler in particular, the Stockert 3T made by international company LivaNova, has been regularly associated with bacterial infection after open heart surgery.

Eastern Health says it is not aware if any patients in Newfoundland or Labrador have actually contracted a bacterial infection after open heart surgery, but they are falling in step with many other Canadian health organizations who are warning patients who may have been infected.

Eastern Health says that any patients who are concerned that they may have contracted a bacterial infection after open heart surgery should contact their family physician first to discuss their worries.

It is important to note, according to Health Canada, that a bacterial infection after open heart surgery “can take months to years to cause symptoms, which can include unexplained and persistent night sweats, muscle aches, weight loss and fatigue.”

Additionally, patients who experience a bacterial infection after open heart surgery may also suffer from endocarditis, surgical site infection, abscess or bacteremia.

If you or someone you love has experienced a bacterial infection after open heart surgery, you may benefit from speaking to an experienced attorney.