bad lead

A recent hospital stay revealed a poorly functioning pacemaker, allowing my heart rate to go as low as 46 when set at 50. A year and a half ago,had a st jude's pm implanted, and immediately it was discovered the lower lead was not working properly and was using excessive voltage to do the job This shortened the life of th battery to31/2 yrs.and I accepted this outcome rather than havethe wires revised by operation Because of the hospital report.I visited my EP, who upped the voltage to maximum, but ad vised he did not thinke the wire could handle it for more than a month. He recommends a new PM and a third wire ,if the original bad wire cannot be revised. My question is, what, if any, are the problems with this solution?. marbern42 and thanks.

2 Comments

Hi,

by Gellia2 - 2008-09-02 04:09:46

I have three wires. One is not used. It scarred over and had to be abandoned. They cap it off and suture it securely. You leave it in there.
They would then put in a new wire and hook that one up to the new battery,
Downside is three wires. I have had my extra one for 26 years and it really doesn't "do" anything.
Upside is a new wire will solve the impedance problem and your battery should last longer.

lead replacement

by patpeter - 2008-09-02 07:09:40

Hey,
I have 3 wires also, when I went in for what I thought was just a battery change, they found that one of my original leads was not working. So while I was on the table they told me and put in the 3rd lead. They were unable to remove the bad lead because the hospital I was in is unable to perform lead extractions so they just put in a new one. I'll have to go to a hospital in Boston to remove any leads. Just had local sedation so felt some of it . Since that new lead was put in I've had some momentary light headed spells and syncope , they found at my interrogation that the wires were pressing on each other causing the spells. My MD called the guys in Boston and they said I don't have to worry now except if the syncope frequency increases and at my next battery change they will re-assessed at that time and probably remove all the wires and start again. I guess if you have a choice I would go for extracting the bad lead and having a new one put in. In my case all I can do is hope my symptoms don't increase since my next battery change is like in 8-9 yrs. Just my 2 cents let us know what you decide to do. It will go well either way. Take care

You know you're wired when...

You can finally prove that you have a heart.

Member Quotes

It is just over 10 years since a dual lead device was implanted for complete heart block. It has worked perfectly and I have traveled well near two million miles internationally since then.