Scar Tissue

Hi All,

My son had his pacemaker when he was 8mths old year 2012 and went recently for a pacemaker interrogation 2013 and his battery estimate is now 6.5 years as compared to when he had his implant it was 9 years.

Ask the physican why his battery life has decrease at least 3 years so rapid from 2012-2013.He said that having scar tissues develop on his leads this will contribute to battery longevity.

Question;

Will this scar tissue be develop only after placing the leads when he had surgery or will more and more scar tissues develop later on in the future and contribute to battery longevity?

Has anyone ever experience this before?

Having 6.5 years left now,will this be a true estimate for battery life or will this be -3 years for the next year?

Appreciate your feedback...

4 Comments

scar tissue

by Tracey_E - 2014-01-07 02:01:40

Well, yes and no. Yes, some scar tissue will always try to cover something foreign in our bodies. It's perfectly normal and not generally a problem. Some people (very rare!) have problems with too much scar tissue growing and after many years may need new leads because it takes too much juice to get the signal through the scar tissue. But that's not usual!

Average lead life is 15 years on an adult, I have no idea what the numbers are on kids because they grow like weeds. I got my first pm in 1994. One lead was replaced 4 years ago, the other original lead is still going strong.

p.s. I saw on another post your son has CHB? I do too! I'm 47, healthy and active, a mom to two teenagers. This does not affect my life AT ALL. This is a lot harder on you than your son. I rarely gave it a thought as a kid, kids don't think things through and worry like adults do. I rarely think about it now, either. It's my normal, all I've ever known. I can do anything I want to do and I feel great.

battery life

by Pacemum - 2014-01-07 05:01:32

There will be a maximum battery life and a minimum battery life. You have to be clear on what figure they are giving at appointment. When my daughter had her first pacemaker we were given a figure of between 5 and 8 years of battery life, 5 being the minimum and 8 was maximum. At some appointments they would give a figure in between which was the average of the two. She actually got 7.5 years out of her first battery which is near to the higher end then the lower first given. When working out when the batteries need replacing our hospital go by the minimum life but this will move and be narrowed down as time passes. She had her second pacemaker implanted when her first had a minimum life of 10 days which did not mean necessarily that it would cease to work in 10 days as this was the bare minimum.

Leads we have always been told last longer than batteries. However, children grow adults do not. The positioning of leads and the pacemaker can together with growth determine when they need replacing in children. I am guessing that your sons pacemaker,because of his age, may be currently located in his abdomen with a lead/leads coiled up to unravel as your son grows. It may be that the leads are still working fine when the time comes to replace the pacemaker battery but may simply run out of lead length and they may have to put in a new lead/leads at the same time. But this does not mean that he will definitely require new lead/leads on each pacemaker battery change. My daughter had new leads and system for her second but the second set of dual leads were OK to remain in place for her third. She did have a complete change of system for her second pacemaker as it was at that point they decided to insert the leads into her heart which is used in most adults as opposed to her first pacemaker which was attached to the bottom of her heart.

I would try and not worry about the battery life and just cross that bridge when you get there.

estimated life

by Tracey_E - 2014-01-07 10:01:52

The estimate is just that, a guess, and it's based on what the pm was doing at the time when they did the interrogation. Every time they adjust the settings, the estimated life changes again. For the most part, my settings don't change anymore but the life sometimes goes up, sometimes goes down, sometimes stays the same. Batteries aren't like gas tanks, where you can tell exactly how much is left. There are some indicators when it is getting low but for the most part it's just a guess.

I've never heard it phrased that scar tissue contributes to longevity. When the leads are new, they turn it up until the heart gets used to pacing and the leads grow into place. As the scar tissue builds, they can turn the power down so the battery will last longer. Too much scar tissue and the signal doesn't get through so they have to turn it up again.

Lots of factors contribute to battery life and can cause the number to vary. I can tell you that changing them out is a piece of cake, it seems like a big deal now but really there is not much to it. When I had my first one, I stressed over how long it would last, hoping to squeeze out a few more months. Now I'm on #4 and I barely pay attention to how much time they say is left. I don't know much about pacing with children, do the batteries go before they outgrow it? I could see a baby outgrowing current leads before age 7-8, and when they do new leads they will do a new battery. Good luck to both of you. Enjoy your son.

ScarTissue

by nato - 2014-01-07 11:01:45

Tracy

You're saying that as my son gets older,more scar tissues will develop on his leads?

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