How many pacemaker members have had strokes

Pacemaker members with strokes

by Gemita - 2021-06-27 08:31:55

Norm Flippo,

I can understand your anger and your questioning and many of us have been there, including my husband who has had several strokes, some silent/transient which went unnoticed until he had a fairly significant stroke which caused left sided symptoms.  He was later found to have had Atrial Fibrillation which is a known major risk factor leading to a stroke.  He was also found to have had a significant blockage of his LAD (left anterior descending artery), so he was very close to a fatal event.  It is not called the “Widowmaker artery” for no reason.

I believe many of us may have experienced mild, transient ischaemic events which often go unnoticed and these can be warning signs for a stroke. To apportion blame to pacemaker leads though might be difficult to prove because the condition leading up to the need for your pacemaker should also be taken into account and your doctors are still clearly looking for other potential risks too, hence an echo with bubble study to look for ?a hole in your heart.  For members interested, I attach a link on Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO).

https://www.scripps.org/news_items/6609-what-happens-if-you-have-a-hole-in-your-heart-video

In your case it is difficult to say with any certainty what has caused your strokes.  There may be several factors that have contributed and I think it would be best to wait for investigations to run their course before jumping to any conclusions.

I note that after initial placement of your first pacemaker, you survived a pulmonary embolism, so there has been lots going on.  I see you needed a pacemaker originally for ?Bradycardia/heart block when your heart rate dropped to 20 bpm.  A slow heart rate can certainly cause problems.  It did for me.  A low heart rate and low blood pressure could be risk factors for blood pooling and clotting according to my doctors and this certainly makes sense to me having suffered from both for many years. 

I wish you all the best and hope that the source for your strokes and troublesome symptoms can be identified.  My husband is doing fairly well on anticoagulants, lifestyle changes, control of his diabetes, thyroid and hypertension 

strokes before pacemaker

by new to pace.... - 2021-06-27 10:52:53

In 2017 after i had fallen a couple of times.  The last time while in rehab a neurolgist said to me after i am released an home come in for an MRI of my brain.  Did that and found out had a couple of strokes.  Was not aware of them.  The Othro Dr. decided that i had cerebular strokes and that was what caused my fallening.  After the pacemaker the cardiologist  said the cause of my falling was a slow heart beat. now who knows, but since pacemaker have not fallen.

  Also certain food's cause me to be cold, quite sleeply, brain fog. As i look back realize that  have had those problems all my life.

new to pace.

Stroke

by Julros - 2021-06-27 13:20:18

I had a stroke pre-pacemaker, due to atrial flutter. Since then I have been on Eliquis, an anti-coagulant to prevent reoccurance. I have also developed subclavian vein stenosis, a narrowing around the wires, than impedes blood return. This is attributed to the movement of the wires inside the vein that caused scarring. 

Strokes

by AgentX86 - 2021-06-27 13:44:13

I doubt a pacemaker, alone, would be responsible for a stroke. The underlying condition certainly could be, as covered above.

The pacemaker leads go to the right atrium and right ventricle. The right side of the heart feeds blood to the lungs, so I could easily see how a PM could cause a pulmonary embolism but don't see how it could cross over to the left ventricle, which feeds blood to the rest of the body.

leads and plaque

by Tracey_E - 2021-06-29 10:58:56

Someone with more medical background than me please correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is leads are in veins which go TO the heart. Strokes caused by plaque happen from arteries going AWAY from the heart. 

Leads and plaque

by AgentX86 - 2021-06-29 23:59:27

The bottom line is that what goes into the heart eventually comes out (or stays in the heart muscle = heart attack).  If it's on the right side, oxygen poor blood it goes to the lungs, via the pulmonary vein, and causes a pulmonary embolism.

If if the plaque comes in through the pulmonary artery with the oxygen rich blood from the lungs, (don't know how it could get there) it would go out the left side, through the aorta or to the rest of the body or heart muscle itself.  If it goes to the heart muscle, you get a heart attack.  If to the body proper, a DVT, and to the brain, a stroke. Because the carotid is a large artery, there is a good chance it's going to the brain.

It's not going to get through the lungs, so anything solid on the right side isn't going to make it to the left.  At least I don't see how it can.  Even with a hole in the septum, the pressure on the left atrium/ventricle is much higher than the right so it would have to swim upstream.

The source is much more likely (not certainty at all) that the stroke was cause by an arrhythmia.  My neurologist said that my seizure was likely caused by micro-infarcts cause by undiagnosed Afib that must have happened more than fourteen years ago.  The MRI showed very small "white spaces" that might be vidence of these micro-infarcts, or it could be artifacts of the MRI.  He couldn't tell the difference but neurologists are like psychiatrists.  They're paid big bucks to guess.