lead moving?

HI - need help here please,
I had my pacemaker put in in July 2009 and within a couble hours came down with pericarditis, I have had it a few more times thoughout the year the first 2 were so very painful, needed morphine painful, the 2 times - I knew to go to the doctors right away and start anti-inflammmatory drugs. Also I get a tapping in the middle of my chest, not much but 1 or two a day for about 3 minutes, anyone feel THAT?
I haven't had paricarditis in months now and I am running again, the tapping is still tho _ SO _ this week I decide if I want the doctor to move the lead a bit, hopefully to stop the tapping in my chest, the doctor calls it pinging> I call it tapping
so what do you think?
Thank you for your time
Pat from New Jersey

4 Comments

me-

by patio - 2010-04-19 02:04:24

I think I can live with the tapping ( I think) but I'm always afraid that I'll get paricarditis again? The doctor thinks I should have the lead moved but only if I want to?
and it could happen again, the tapping the paricarditis - I think he said he can't guarantee that it woun't happen again?
Thanks

don't know

by Tracey_E - 2010-04-19 09:04:50

I don't know what to tell you. It sounds like your doctor hasn't run into this before and is just guessing. My understanding- and I'm just a layperson- is pericarditis happens when the heart is punctured when they place the lead and you get fluid/inflammation around the heart as a result. I've never heard of it coming back, usually they get it under control and the heart muscle heals and you get on with your life.

My first thought when you mentioned moving it is you'd be at risk for the same thing happening again when they moved it, but that's pure gut instinct not fact! Any time you open it up and mess with it, you risk infection. A very small risk, but not a risk you want to take lightly if you are at risk of the pericarditis coming back. Assuming you are at risk, sounds like your doc doesn't know.

Have you had a second opinion? Not a cardiologist, but an EP who does a high volume of pm's. Before letting them operate on me again, I'd want to know
-exactly how I ended up with the pericarditis (puncture, lead attachment, cause unknown, etc),
-what the odds are of it coming back if you leave the lead where it is,
-what the odds are of it happening if they move the lead,
-if changing to a different type of lead would be a better choice than repositioning the lead you have. Not every type of lead works well for every patient.

If your doctor doesn't have answers, I would try to find one who does before you let them operate again. If you can't get definitive answers, at least go for a concensus so you have piece of mind you're making the right decision. Letting it up to you doesn't exactly leave you full of confidence that your doctor is sure it's the right thing to do.

tapping

by dottodot - 2010-04-19 10:04:18

Most people don't feel their pacemaker working. Mine has been in a year plus and I always feel the tapping-it's only when the ventricular lead is pacing and so it's less than 1% of the time (atrial lead paces 98% and I don't feel that). I guess because I know what it is I just ignore it. How do I know that was in the ER a month after my pm and was monitored and I could correlate it with the monitor-in my other life I used to be an ER nurse so know monitors. Good luck.

my not-a-doctor opinion

by Tracey_E - 2010-04-19 12:04:28

A lead can be easily moved for about a year or so after it's placed, after that the scar tissue holds it in place it it gets more complicated. Moving a lead is another surgery. It may fix it but there are no guarantees and you've already had complications from placing your leads. If the lead is working and the tapping is something you can live with, I'd personally leave well enough alone and not touch it unless I absolutely had to. But that's just me. :o) Discuss it with your doctor and see what he has to say. Weigh the risks with the possible benefits and make your decision. Good luck!

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