max leads ?

New here checking in on behalf of wife. Currently has two leads thank to two differant mistakes. First lead didn't embed, put in second (this goes back 10 or 15 years. Subsequent battery replacement physician nicked the lead. Patched with super glue, looked horrible.
Recent battery done using same lead by a great physician, did a nice job to undue the ratnest created by another, made a nice pocket and looked great.
Any now the battery is only three years old and will wear out in a year of so due to bad lead capture.
Not sure if she will make it to the latest no lead pacer that will be available per our doctor down the road.
Anyway she might be facing a lead extraction, but we would like to avoid that if possible. Our cardiologist says he would try a third in hopes the are thinner and there is room for another. That would get her to the next generation. Otherwise wondering if there are additional options beside the lead extraction to bridge the time gap till the newest battery which does not require leads is on the market. Thanks to all. Also mortality on lead extraction ? she's concerned.

1 Comments

leads

by Tracey_E - 2013-05-08 04:05:16

When I needed a third lead, we did a venogram to see how much space was there. They did it in the cath lab because of their xray machinery, but it was just a regular iv with dye. I had room to fit a third, so that's what we did. If that hadn't worked, my next choice was going to be putting the new one on the other side. Last choice would have been extracting and starting over. I'm only 46 and expect to live long enough to wear out my next set of leads so I'm putting off extraction as long as I can.

I've never heard of anyone dying from lead extraction. The biggest risk is pericarditis. The risks have gone way down in the last few years as the sheaths they use have improved and the number of surgeons with a lot of experience has increased.

I don't think the wireless ones are that close to ready for market. They are getting closer with wireless icd's but the pm's are still in the early research. I'm hoping they keep working on it real hard! That, and recharging batteries. I've had 4 surgeries so far, would love to have one or two more then be good for life.

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