Outgrowth of leads

Hello everyone! Im new to this club, but I already found it very helpful, so I decided to ask some questions about leads. Firstly, I will quickly sum up my situation. At age of 10 I had implanted my first ICD. Now I am 18 years old, and a about year ago, I noticed my leads to be pinched under my clavicle; it is annoying and sometimes painful, especially when I move my arm. Device and leads are otherwise working correctly. I wonder, if anyone else has same situation, what can be done to solve it and if I need to worry about lead fracture and ensulation damage.

Best regards! 

 

3 Comments

Ask your dr

by Lavender - 2024-04-23 19:36:22

Your dr can order an xray to check placement of the leads.  I would give the dr a call and let them investigate. Sounds irritating for sure!  

growth

by Tracey_E - 2024-04-24 11:19:07

That's definitely a question for your doctor and reason to get an xray. But yeah, it's possible to grow more than they anticipated and the leads get too tight, and they can get pinched. How much is left on this battery? If it's working, they will try to leave things alone and fix it all at once when the battery goes. 

I had one with ruptured insulation that worked for another 5 years before we dealt with it. It still worked, but it ran the battery down more quickly. The analogy they gave me was running the air conditioner with the window open. The house still cools, but the power bill is higher. 

If you have a lot of battery life left, they may be able to do a quick surgery to reposition to hold you over until the next replacement.

Definitely let your doctor know what's going on and get an xray so they can keep an eye on it. 

Thanks everyone for your answers

by riseandshine - 2024-05-07 06:40:59

Thank you for all your answers. Actually I already had CT scan. There was no infection, so there was no further action done about those leads and i was told that I was overwhelmed about this sensation around collarbone, but as I can se on this forum, this discomfort is an actual problem.

I have a bit less than a half of battery life left. So the explatation of leads is not an option. But I asked for repositioning it, but the answer was that no one would do anything while everything is working correctly. Tracey_E what did you mean with quick surgery to hold me until next replacement?

Do you have PM or ICD? I wouldn't be worried that much about lead fracture if I had PM, but since I have ICD I am afraid that lead fracture would cause inappropriate shocks. I already had shocks before and it is really distressing. What was the reason that your lead ensulation was ruptured?

Hi Slowdive, does she also has discomfort? Did you solve the problem?

Best regards

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