Khairy TF, Lupien MA, Nava S, et al. - In order to improve the access to pacemakers and defibrillators at places with limited resources, a multinational program was initiated in 1983 to provide tested and resterilized pacemakers and defibrillators to underserved nations. A prospective registry was established in 2003. Researchers here compared patients who received reused devices in this program with those who received new devices implanted in Canada regarding infection or device-related death; mortality from other causes was modeled as a competing risk. They assessed 1,051 patients (mean age: 63.2±18.5 years; 43.6% women) who were implanted with resterilized devices in Mexico (36.0%), the Dominican Republic (28.1%), Guatemala (26.6%), and Honduras (9.3%). Among these patients, the incidence of infection or device-related death at 2 years was 2.0%, an incidence that did not differ significantly from that observed among matched control patients with new devices in Canada.