battery change and leads

Hi
I am posted for a battery change coming Monday, it is my first after eight years, in which my Biotronik device has functioned without any problems- a marvelous piece of work I believe.
Some of you guys have explained the procedure to me and I am quite relaxed, but there are still two questions which bother me and I would like answered if possible:
I believe that the leads will not have be changed with the new device, can it be that this was established during the last check up when I was told that the batteries have to be exchanged?
Also, I do not quite know if my PM is working full time ( I did not ask) so if it does so, what happens during the procedure when the old device is disconnected until the new one is attached to the leads, will my hear stop beating for that time, how will it feel?
I would be grateful for some experienced information
Thanks
Dave

1 Comments

replacement

by Tracey_E - 2013-04-20 11:04:08

If they didn't say anything about a lead going bad, then odds are pretty good your leads are fine. They do test them once more before they put the new pm in.

They will test to see what your underlying rate is before the surgery. They may have done it at your last check and you didn't realize it. If your underlying rate is high enough, then they just make the switch. If it's too low, they use an external pacemaker to temporarily pace us if needed during the change out, but it's normally just a matter of seconds. They access the old one and get it ready to come off, get the new one programmed and ready to go then quickly disconnect the old and connect the new.

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