Any advice please...

I will try my best to keep this as short as possible. I have complete heart block and a dual chamber pacemaker. I recently managed to fracture my ventricle lead. They did not remove the broken lead as it was there too long but did add a new lead. Since the procedure I have felt awful. I have had my pacer for 10 plus years and it has never taken this long to bounce back from surgery. I have no energy and am getting a lot of pressure and tightness in my chest. Since the surgery they found on x-ray that the new lead had formed a loop in my heart and that I have also developed a murmur. They tried to fine tune the timing of my heart with an echo and found I had better blood flow with a longer AV delay. Through testing however we have found I actually feel much better and have a lot less chest pressure with a shorter AV delay. The longer AV delay seemed to cause more shortness of breath as well. They kept the longer AV delay setting even though it made me feel worse. I typically have a pretty fast heart rate and since the procedure it appears to be running even faster. I have not done anything active since surgery and I am getting lots of readings at 180bpms. The most active thing I have done since surgery is probably a shower. The Dr feels I need to just give it more time. It has been 2 months now with no improvement and I want my life back. I don't want to give it more time. Any suggestions or ideas????

4 Comments

My first suggestion

by ElectricFrank - 2012-07-19 02:07:44

Get a second opinion from a reputable cardiologist or EP. I don't trust the current one. There is no excuse or reason for telling you give it more time. 2 months is about 2 months too long. If a broken lead was replaced and the pacemaker was left with the same settings other than maybe a change in the pacing voltage you should immediately feel like before. Once you start getting stories like this none of the information is reliable.

I'm wondering what kind of error in the implanting the new lead is causing all the problems and he is covering up for it. If he were to go in and fix it most insurance companies would consider it a "warranty" job and not pay for it. If he can hold you off for some required length of time then it can be considered a new treatment.

Request a copy of the Initial and Final report of the pacemaker settings. Also, request a copy of the OR surgery report. I get them from the hospital records department here. The surgical report should include notes about the implant of the lead and any problems.

good luck,

frank

THANKS

by Esmith - 2012-07-19 09:07:05

Thanks for the responses. They did change out my generator during the procedure seeing it only had about a year left on the battery. They figured they might as well handle it while they were in there. They matched the settings on my old pacer though so that would not explain the difference on how I feel. I don't know how to get the Dr to listen to me on how I feel and realize that I can't just give it more time. My life is falling apart and I need to start feeling better! I have tried going for a second opinion but my insurance is being difficult allowing it....

Another possibility

by ElectricFrank - 2012-07-19 10:07:30

Even with the same settings the new lead may be inserted in a different area of the heart wall which could change the hearts response to a pace.

I still think the second opinion is the way to go.

frank

Second Opinion

by elementaryedu - 2012-07-19 12:07:33

I would have to agree with the above comment. You need to think about getting a second opinion. I have had a pacemaker since the day I was born and I am now 28 years old. I was born with congenital heart block and I too have a dual chamber pacemaker. When I was 16 years old, I fractured one of my leads. Like you, the surgeons did not remove the broken lead. Instead they capped the lead off in my heart. Although that particular surgery took a little longer to recover from than other pacemaker surgeries, I still did not have the complications that you have experienced. Since it's been 2 months, you should be back on your feet by now. For some people, it takes some time to get use to new AV settings and then others have to keep having their settings tweeked until the doctors find the correct setting. What worries me is the tightness you feel in your chest. If I were you, I would have that looked into. Changes in AV settings should not make you feel like that. You need to get copies of your hospital and surgical records and get a second opinion. If you don't already, maybe you should look into seeing a respectable cardiologist at a research hospital. They are very thorough and offer excellent care. I hope things start looking up for you and you start feeling better. Keep us posted!
Take care!

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I've seen many posts about people being concerned about exercise after having a device so thought I would let you know that yesterday I raced my first marathon since having my pacemaker fitted in fall 2004.