Syncope AFTER PM implant

hi all - i'm hoping you can shed some light on what my dad's been going thru... he had a PM implanted 2 weeks ago, after episodic tachycardia. a few days ago the atrial lead dislodged and he was set up to have another procedure to fix it next week. today he collapsed/fainted while to dinner. he woke up a few minutes later then ended up in the local ER. now he's gone by ambulance to the hospital where his docs are. i'm freaked out. anyone with similar experiences? are fainting spells AFTER the PM is implanted common? could it be related to the dislodged lead? any support is really appreciated. thanks!

4 Comments

Dislodged lead

by golden_snitch - 2013-08-29 01:08:20

Hi!

If the atrial lead is dislodged, he probably suffered a sinus bradycardia (very low heart rate) or sinus node arrest (pause) that caused him to faint. Can happen, if the atrial lead is not working in someone who has sinus node issues and needs it working.

You said that your Dad got his pacemaker after an episode of tachycardia. Now, that can't be the reason. A pacemaker can only treat bradycardia and pauses, it cannot do a single thing about tachycardia. So, there must be something else going on. Maybe what I mentioned above. Or did he have ventricular tachycardia, and what he has implanted is a combination of pacemaker and defibrillator?

I'd let them fix the lead, and then see if he gets dizzy or faints again.

Best wishes
Inga

ditto what Inga said

by Tracey_E - 2013-08-29 07:08:16

If the lead is dislodged, it's probably not pacing.

A pm can't help tachycardia. It can only add beats when the heart goes too slowly or pauses.

A pm will only help fainting if slow hr/pauses are the cause of the fainting. If it's something else- bp, blood sugar, etc- the pm won't stop it. It has one job, to add beats.

When they interrogated the pm at the ER, they should have been able to see exactly what was going on when he fainted, if he was pacing or not.

oops, i meant bradycardia...

by abbalev - 2013-08-29 10:08:07

thanks all... sorry, i had been in the hospital for hours and was out of it. yes, it was bradycardia. seems the PM interrogation didn't shed any light on what happened. he's got the top nyc docs flummoxed. right now he's in pre-op to have the lead re-inserted...

HI

by jeanlancour - 2013-08-29 12:08:50

No fainting spells after having a PM are not to be expected. Your Dad is where he needs to be, in the hospital, with his EP and cardio drs. I would expect them to take a very close look at what is going on and come up with the answers for him and his family. Get right in there and ask any question that you have, and get answers!! Let us know what happens. good luck!

You know you're wired when...

You run like the bionic man.

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