Pacemaker Surgery Left Lead Read

I am almost 81 years old. I recently had pacemaker surgery that took longer than expected. The doctor said it usually takes 1-3 times to get a good read on the left ventricle, but it took him 25 times. He said it was very tricky to get a read. Is this because of my age?

I feel nauseous all over. I can't find anything on the internet to explain to me what it really means when it takes 25 times to get a read. I'm assuming it does not mean anything, but I would like to put my mind to rest.

Anyone with an answer would be helpful.

Thank you.

1 Comments

25 Times

by SMITTY - 2009-10-24 04:10:47

Hello LLL,

I'll join you in a little guessing game here. I do know that when they put in a new lead they check for good contact with heart wall before connecting it to the pacemaker. My guess is that for whatever reason (maybe the dr. can tell you) they could not get the contact needed so they kept repositioning the lead until they got good contact.

We think of our leads as being single wire but it is actually two wires that supports two circuits. One circuit lets the pacemaker know when the heart’s natural pacemaker is not going to make the heart beat so the pacemaker can send an impulse to make the heart beat through the other circuit. So they must be sure the lead is making good contact on both sides of the lead. This checking by the pacemaker, before sending an impulse goes on with heart beat so that the heart does not get conflicting signals.

If it were me I would not put any importance on the need to make that many tries to get the contact needed because the important thing is they were able to complete the job. However, if you are concerned about the high number I would suggest another conversation with the good doctor.

By the way, so that you will know the guesser here is not some wet behind the ears kid, I had my 80th birthday in May. Alright you kids don’t be offended, you know I'm kidding. I know most of you have already forgotten more than I’ll ever know about pacemakers.

Good luck,

Smitty

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