Pacemaker Club: Kinked leads?

Kinked leads?

by Bostonstrong
2013-12-30 09:12:11
General Posting
2463 views
3 comments

I got a c spine xray before Christmas, was out of the office last week, and looked at the images online this morning when I got back. The oblique view shows 2 very tightly kinked leads. I called radiology and had one of the docs take a second look. He thought it was probably the angle of the shot. The pacer is working fine so no worries there. If the leads really are kinked would this be a problem at some point?

3 Comments

Kinked Lead

by SMITTY - 2013-12-30 11:12:42

A kinked lead would become a problem only if the leads became unable to carry a very weak electrical current as that is all a lead dose. That is no more likely to happen than say an electrical extension cord in your house quit working because it was kinked.

Smitty

How on earth...

by donr - 2013-12-31 01:12:56

...is a lead going to find space inside a vein to get a kink?

The lead is covered w/ a braided metal sheath. To kink that you would have to make a loop in it & then pull it tight enough for it to take a permanent cusp in the lead. Not very probable. It would be like putting a kink in a garden hose.

Strange things happen when you X-Ray those leads. I had one that was completely severed & it did not show up that way till one day I had a random PA chest exposure to check for lung congestion. VOILA!!! there it was - the two separated ends of the broken lead. Till then, one lead covered the other & masked the break. MOF, it looked like one had a bad kink in it - till the shot showing the true situation..

Don

Thanks

by Bostonstrong - 2014-01-01 08:01:01

Not sure why but looking at incidental findings like this on an X-ray make me anxious. After years of under reacting to any health issue I seem to be getting anxious about anything pm related. On the up side it took my mind off the slipped disk in my c spine.