Body art risky in heart patients

Children and teenagers with congenital heart disease should stay away from tattoos and body piercing, as these could lead to heart infection. Body art in the form of tattoos and piercing has become increasingly popular amongst children and teenagers, and is nowadays more socially acceptable. However, the recent reports of people developing endocarditis and other serious infections after tattooing and body piercing are not acceptable. Infective endocarditis occurs when bacteria or fungi attaches and begins to grow on the valves of the heart. If left untreated, it can lead to a fatal destruction of heart muscle. A recent study by the European Research Commission found that up to half of body piercings can lead to acute infection. To investigate this further, researchers from the Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, conducted a survey of 600 patients attending pediatric cardiology clinics and 69 pediatric cardiologists, some of whom were still treating adults with congenital heart disease. Of the 486 heart patients surveyed, 87 (about 18 per cent) had body art; 86 patients had piercings, and one had a tattoo. One of these individuals developed endocarditis after an ear piercing. The average age of the piercing group was 12 years, while the patient who got the tattoo was 15 years old. Sixty-two per cent of these young people (54 out of 78) were not aware that they should talk to their doctor before tattooing or piercing their body. Among the 33 patients who sought advice about body art, 12 asked their heart doctor: four were advised against it, six were told to take sterile precautions and two were told that there was no need for precautions. Twenty-one patients sought advice from non-heart specialists: five were advised against body art, eight were advised to take precautions and eight were told there was no need for precautions. The results show that that most patients do not seek advice before having body art, but those who do are given such widely varying recommendations. Thus, better knowledge and education about the link between body art and endocarditis is required in order to provide guidelines for doctors and patients. But for the time being, all forms of body art should be strongly discouraged. For those who cannot be dissuaded, antibiotics are recommended prior to tattooing or piercing.