One of the Leads Have Moved.

Has anyone ever had a lead move on their pacemaker? I had a CRTD/ICD implanted August 3rd, 2011, and supposedly a lead on the right side had moved 5 centimeters by August 8th. My Doctor has to go back in and reposition the lead, because it is causing the CRTD to not work properly. Meditronic, which makes the CRTD said that it happens about 20% of the time. I'm not sure if the Doctor screwed up, or if a contraction or tissue growth actually moved the lead in that short of a time span. Thank you.

2 Comments

Moving lead

by ElectricFrank - 2011-08-17 12:08:26

The leads have either a barb like end on them or a screw which is used to anchor them the heart wall. One problem is that scar tissue or plaque build up on the heart wall can make it hard to get a good anchor.

It is very difficult for the surgeon to know how well secured the leads are since they are inside a beating heart.

frank

Lead out of place

by bamafan - 2011-08-23 03:08:25

I am facing the same issue. I had my first implant of a Medtronic MRI safe pacemaker in April this year. Since then the atrial lead has been displaced twice. I now have the atrial lead turned off and am waiting for my third surgery to have the lead repositioned.

I did change doctors between the first and second attempts so I feel confident I have ruled out error caused by the doctor. The Medtronics lead I have is new on the market since February and I am wondering if the newly designed MRI safe lead is contributing to lead displacement.

My first 2 leads were "screw" designs and I am now changing to a barb "fish hook" design.

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