Pacemaker and surgery

If you had to have caroid artery surgery will having  a pacemaker cause you a problem?  Is there anyone out there that has had cartoid artery surgery with a pacemaker?

3 Comments

Carotid artery surgery

by AgentX86 - 2023-06-21 23:05:25

There shouldn't be any issues.  The pacemaker leads enter the heart into  the right atrium, via the vena cava.  The carotids are fed from the left ventricle, via the aorta. The largest risk is a clot thrown into the carotid and from there, the brain.  There isn't any chance of a clot getting from the right side of the heart to the left (it would have to pass through the lungs) so there sould be no additional risk.

Are you having the carotids stripped or are you having a stent inserted?  I had (they thought) significant blockage in my carotids (>75%).  I was given the choice of having them scouped out or stented.  I chose the latter.  Good thing because when they put the catheter in, they found the blockage less than 20%. I chose well, since they did nothing. I still have a dopler ultrasounc on them each year.

carotid artery

by jgulleye - 2023-06-22 18:48:00

They have done a dopler ultra sound and they are doing a ct scan on July 10 to see how much blockage.  Had you had a ct scan?  Looks like they would have known how much blockage you had before the surgery doesn't it? I'm glad you didn't need the surgery but thats scarey that they didn't know.. Thank you so much for your reply.

CTA

by AgentX86 - 2023-06-22 22:37:50

Yes, I had a CT angiogram before they did anything invasive.  The CTA showed the blockage percentage. The answer was that it wasn't plaque, rather calcium, which is denser than fat, blocking the view of the CTA.

I asked about an MRI but my vascular surgeon said that the CTA was the gold standard for circulation issues.  I guess that's why they use it to check for hemorrhagic stroke and brain injury.

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