Heart surgery infection risk identified

People who have had heart surgery at the QEII or IWK in Halifax in the last several years are being notified about a risk of infection…about 4,000 patients.

The Nova Scotia Health Authority says devices used to heat and cool blood during heart surgeries have been linked elsewhere to a rare bacterial infection. Officials say the risk is low and there have been no reports of infections in the Halifax hospitals…but there have been in other parts of North America and Europe, including Montreal.