cracked lead

I have had defibrillator since march 2006. my initial heart attack in dec 2005 damaged the left lower ventricle section of my heart. never did my defibrillator go off till 3 days ago. thank goodness. I was out of town so of course called my dr. I also was back in my home town so I went to original dr so they could read the device to see what happened. was told that the lead was cracked and my heart was fine. the icd went off due to the crack in the lead. about 3 weeks ago my Dr said he doesn't belief I need it anymore but generally they leave it in. just shut it down. well now a lead is cracked. i'm having an echo tomorrow to verify condition of the hear and then they will make a decision. has anyone had this happen to you and what was the game plan for you. just worried about a foreign device...with a craked lead in my body and not be used.

2 Comments

leads

by Tracey_E - 2015-08-27 01:08:13

Many of us have old leads left in, no big deal. When one of mine went bad 5 years ago, we capped it off and added a new one. They can be removed if they are causing problems or we need the space, but it's a specialized surgery that is not without a degree of risk.

Leads

by Val-8 - 2015-09-02 03:09:49

I too have a bad lead. My lead has to come out because I'm full. I have 7 leads in. So I have plenty of capped off leads. They only really like to take leads out if there is a problem or you don't have anymore room... I don't really worry about the foreign device in me, as I've had a pacemaker for 38 years, and lots of people have added equipment. (Hip/knee ect)

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Good luck with your surgery. It will improve life amazingly.