Should patients who use illicit drugs be offered a second heart-valve replacement?

Abstract

Intravenous drug users (IVDUs) have an elevated risk of contracting infectious endocarditis. Most of them have good effect from medical treatment, but some will need valve replacement. Until a few years ago, our hospital withheld valve surgery if patients with intravenous drug dependency and infectious endocarditis came to need a second valve replacement. However, there are no consensus guidelines for treatment of this group of patients, and a dearth of data on the effects and benefits of interventions. Using a method of ethical analysis, we here discuss whether it is appropriate to offer valve surgery to drug users for a second time.