one surge of high ventricular lead impendance

Hi everyone, I need some helpful advise for "the experts",

I received my first pacemaker at age 44, after 16-1/2 years I have

had 2 more replacements, the last one was this March 2017, anyway

I have the lattitude monitoring device from Boston Scientific and everything

was going well until I got a phone call stating that my ventricular impedance

went from 400 to 2000 ohms. The doctors office had me come in to be

checked. When he checked me, I was fine, the impedance was down to around 480, it has been as low as 380ohms. The doctor said that it looked

like everything was okay, he had been worried about a line fracture, but since he couldn't get the impedance to change while I was in the office he

said that everything must be okay. Has anyone had that happen to them?

I am wondering if this is the calm before the storm, my leads have never

been replaced and are over 16 years old now, just wondering if this impedance is normal to go up and down, or if it only does that right before

there is a fracture?

Thanks for your answers!

2 Comments

leads

by Tracey_E - 2017-10-12 22:33:17

Did they do an xray? Somes fractures will show there, but really, if it's not consistently showing up in the reports and they can't duplicate it,  it's probably just an anomaly and nothing to worry about. Average lead life is 15 years but they can last 20, 30, or more.

When I had one fracture, the impedance gradually increased over several years. They had to crank up the juice to get the signal through, but it worked right up until it was replaced the next time I got a new device. 

leads

by natlat - 2017-12-01 07:56:44

Tracey E, how did they know you had a lead fracture?  I just had to have my ventricular lead replaced and they are unclear what was causing it to decline.  They too had to continue to crank up the juice.  My R wave declined to 1 and I am not sure what this means?  My lead was making alot of noise too.  They think maybe fibrosis since it was placed in a scar already there or malfunction. Do leads generally accumulate scar tissue? They are sending the lead out to be tested.

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A properly implanted and adjusted pacemaker will not even be noticeable after you get over the surgery.