How many pacemaker leads do you have?

leads

by Tracey_E - 2018-07-22 16:16:31

Oh man, so sorry to hear the new one is already failing! Any idea why so soon?

I think Gellia has 5. She's been paced since the 70's and had one of the first 2 lead devices. I haven't seen her around in a while but you could probably find her old posts. 

If they can't fit more and they can't remove what's there, they go to the other side or switch to epicardial leads. 

Who did the extraction, was it someone highly specialized?  You always want someone who does more than 100/year. Within the ones that do more than that, there are some that specialize in the more complicated cases.  My ep does a lot of extractions, but he's already said he'll be sending me to one of those when the time comes because my leads are so old. The laser sheaths get better and better all the time. Surgeons get better each year as more of us need extractions. So, it's possible that extraction is still a possibility, tho you may have to travel to do it.  

Leads

by BladeRunner - 2018-07-25 18:50:47

Thank you for your comment TraceyE. When my lead fractured my pacemaker started shocking me. In the ER they turned off the icd portion and hooked me up to an external defibrillator. I was told that I needed immediate surgery and that would include the lead extraction. I don’t think my doctor had done many and that probably contributed to the surgical failure.  I don’t know if I could have been moved to a more experienced hospital/doctor, I was never given the option. My generator was replaced along with the lead because my battery was nearing end of service and the multiple shocks drained it even more. I survived but was bruised from armpit to waist and was very sore. 

Not sure why the replacement lead is failing but the resistance went up shortly after implant and at first they thought it had moved but X-rays didn’t show any movement. Since then the sensing and pacing thresholds have slowly increased and my battery is being drained faster than it should. 

Maybe I’m just a difficult patient.   :)

nah not difficult

by Tracey_E - 2018-07-25 22:13:41

You might be having some miserable luck, but that doesnt make you difficult. Before making any decisions, I would get a second opinion from an ep that does a lot of extractions. Find out why the lead is failing, see if extraction is a possibility now if you were in the right facility. You might consider traveling to somewhere like Cleveland Clinic where they have complicated patients all day long.