It clicks

Received a St. Jude model 5826. Continuous pacing. Only two of three leads connected due to Dr. having difficulty placing third in left ventrical. Went home next day. Got kicked in the chest by it multiple times. Went to ER. Cardiac enzymes showed heart attack. Got it tuned up. It still clicks especially when I bend over. Also had to go back on Toprol . Don't feel to pleased with results. Are they "normal"?
Carole

1 Comments

pacing the diaphragm

by golden_snitch - 2009-09-06 05:09:53

Hi Carol!

I'm not quite sure what you mean by getting kicked in the chest, but since you said it happens when you bend over it might be the case that the pacer is stimulating your diaphragm. I have had that, too, but by turning down the output a bit and switching the ventricular lead to bi-polar stimulation, the problem resolved. A friend of mine has a CRT device (cardiac re-synchronisation therapy, bi-ventricular) like you were supposed to have, and she has quite a lot of diaphragmatic pacing, too.

What I don't understand in your case is that there surely was a reason why you were supposed to get a bi-ventricular device (heart failure?), and now they just send you home with two leads connected because the doctor had difficulties with the third lead. So, I mean shouldn't he have tried harder or even - in the worst case - put it in epicardially? A CRT device with just two leads makes no sense. It won't restore the synchrony of the ventricles, and actually by pacing only the right ventricle, it might make the heart failure worse. So, unless you got the CRT just in case you would somehow need bi-ventricular pacing, but don't need it right now, it's fine. But if you got it for the purpose of improving the pumping of the ventricles, I would ask about getting the third lead connected again.

Best wishes,
Inga

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