"Thin Wire" Leads?

Does anyone know anything about "thin wire" leads? I am trying to find out if they last as long as regular leads. Tried researching online without success.

A physiologist at the Cleveland Clinic told me he inserted thin wires because I was not a candidate for lead extraction. These two new leads brought my total up to seven including my original single myocardial lead.

I have a congenital third-degree (complete) fiber bundle block and am considered pacemaker dependent. My first pacemaker was implanted in 1969--the dark ages of PM technology! I got the thin wire leads in 2000, had another battery replacement in 2007, and recently fainted. Am now scheduled for a ton of testing, but this got me thinking about two difficult years (1979-81) when no one believed my ten-year-old lead was fractured. Hmmm…

3 Comments

WOW! Hope for me!

by Gellia3 - 2011-05-18 03:05:36

Hi,
All I can say is WOW! You've had a PM actually longer than me and I thought I was bad! I got my first in 1975 for CHB, too.

I have a total of three wires and have had the two working ones since 1982. The other 1975 one is nonfunctional and sort of flops around in my ventricle in a big loop. I wondered what they would do if I needed another due to impedment. You having 7 wires has given me hope that they won't have to switch the whole thing to the other side. My EP has also said removal is not an option.

When they talk about thin wires, I think that is opposed to the wires they use for ICD, which I understand are thicker than a regular PM wire.
I'm sure there will be others that can explain that far better.

Again, it's nice to "meet" an oldster.
Gellia

guinea pigs

by Tracey_E - 2011-05-18 06:05:09

How cool that you beat Gellia! She was our resident winner of the longevity award until you said hi :o)

My understanding is the new leads last as long or longer than the old ones, and that all leads are smaller now than they used to be. The only way to really know how long they'll last is to use them and see, so the next generation of people getting them will look to our statistics to see how long they last.

Welcome!!! It's nice to have you.

Thin leads

by ElectricFrank - 2011-05-19 01:05:29

The material in the leads have more effect on longevity than thickness. In fact where wires are subjected to continuous flexing like in the heart small diameter wire may actually last longer.

frank

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