lifetime of leads

hello friends i want to ask a question that how long pm leads can pace? what is expected lifetime of leads? i am on my second pm they only changed my pm and leads are not changed. is the risk increases with time if leads are extracted after long period? is there chances the leads can work for 50 years ? i am 20 years old male i am on my second pm the first was implated 7 years before and second one 2 month before

3 Comments

Lead life

by MelodyMarch - 2014-10-05 11:10:25

Varies. We have members here that have working leads that are 30+ years old. Many members have leads that are well into their second decade.

Lead extraction does carry risk, but the cardios are getting way better at it all the time, and the risks have dropped significantly in the last decade.

Since you are fairly young, you probably will face a lead extraction at some point.

Before they extract, if only one lead is bad they will try to place another and cap the old one first, if you have the space in the vein to do that.

It is not unreasonable to think that your original leads could last another 20-30 years, maybe more.

While it is something to know about, I personally wouldn't worry about it until your cardio tells you it's time to start thinking about it.

Hope this info helps!

thanks

by ballydhanoa - 2014-10-06 04:10:21

thanks it helped me.

leads

by Tracey_E - 2014-10-06 11:10:45

They say 15 years is average but many of us have leads older than that. I think Gellia has the oldest leads here, over 30 years old. I have one lead that is 20 years old, my second went bad and was replaced a few years ago. I had room in the vein so we added the new one, capped off the old one and left it there. Extraction techniques get better all the time so I'm planning to avoid it as long as possible. I'm 48 now, been paced since I was 27. It's not realistic to expect both leads to last forever, but I'm hoping to only have it done once.

Have you seen the leadless pm's? They are fairly new and right now not an option for any of us, but I'm hoping they are perfected for us before I need an extraction. Then there's the ones they're working on that recharge from our movement. Technology is amazing, who knows where they'll be in another 20 years.

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