HOW LONG DO LEADS LAST

MY LEADS HAVE BEEN IN FOR 12 YEARS..NO PROBLEMS.HOW DO THEY KNOW IF A LEAD HAS TO BE REPLACED ? HOW LONG DO YOU STAY IN THE HOSPITAL ?THIS IS MY THIRD ST JUDES PACER/DIFIB..AND NEVER HAD A PROBLEM ?
ANY INFORMATION WOULD PUT ME AT REST

4 Comments

leads

by Tracey_E - 2012-10-23 11:10:24

If there is a problem with a lead, it will show up in the regular checks, and they test the leads every time they change out the device. The average is 15 years but we have members here with leads 30+ years old that are still going strong.

I've been paced since 1994 and have had one lead replaced. It didn't suddenly die, it started draining the battery more quickly because it had to be turned up higher to get the signal through. It still worked fine so I chose to keep it through one battery change. Then it got worse and the battery life plummeted so that time I got a new lead when I got a new battery. It wasn't a big deal. There was room to add the new one on top of the old ones so they just capped off the old one and left it there. If it hadn't fit, they would have either put the new one in from the other side or extracted and started fresh.

Impedance

by golden_snitch - 2012-10-23 11:10:52

Hi!

The lead impedance will tell you, how well the leads are performing. If the impedance is to high or too low, there is either a lead fracture or an insulation damage. This is a basic parameter that the cardio checks at every pacemaker check, and all the pacer models I know have a diagram which shows the impedance trend since your last appointment (the pacer does daily self-checks on that). So, chances that a cardio does not notice a failing lead are rather low.

Another parameter that can be of interest is the threshold. This is the voltage that is needed to stimulate the heart effectively, to make it beat. If the threshold increases it's not because of a faulty lead, but because of scar tissue around the tip of the lead; so it's not an actual lead failure, but it still requires replacement of the leads. Also, when the threshold is high, the battery will run low sooner than expected, because the pacer needs to stimulate using much more energy.

So, I'd say if the impedance and the threshold are ok, you're just fine :)

Best wishes
Inga

Replace leads

by zimms34 - 2012-10-29 07:10:05

Hi!
One of my leads failed after about 20 years. I had also had the devise moved to the left side from the right, and had the devise changed from a unipolar to bipolar lead in the past. To shorten the story it was time to remove the old leads, and insert new ones. Had surgery at Mission hospital, and all went well. This was 12 years ago.
Good luck
Gary

I neeed more checking

by garydiamond - 2015-10-31 08:10:20

Well i want to be checked more often since the pacemaker was pushed out of it's pocket, and into my chest muscle, had what felt like a new pacemaker surgery pain for 8-9 days after them pulling my skin from the pacemaker, I can't understand why when they did my shoulder surgery they didn't put 5 cents worth of gauze over my pacemaker.
I yelled stop your hurting me, two times, then lights out from the pain, or maybe my other heart issues like a stent, and a heart artery vasospasms should have been considered before hand, and my right hand should have never been held down, and my eyes were covered by my own eye mask,, also they never told me they were going to do this to me, just felt a hand holding me down at around 5:30 am now I relive this event daily its slowly driving me nuts i feel like some one put a time bomb in me but I don't know when it can go off. I would like to test my leads myself everyday.
Gary

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