Pacemaker Club: i'm confused

i'm confused

by joanna59
2010-11-09 07:11:47
Batteries & Leads
1491 views
2 comments

had checkup today 1 year and 3 months, had to have xray because one of my leads looked bad, come to find out, one lead is completely pulled out and one is just pulled, have to have echo to see what ejection fraction is and then wait two weeks to see what the doctor is going to decide to do. At least my defibulator is stll connected, Yeah!!! Does anyone understand this, he kept saying it wasnt good but it wouldn’t be as easy this time???

2 Comments

Hi:)

by Pookie - 2010-11-09 09:11:55

Hi. Are you saying you went an entire year and 3 months before having a check up? or are you saying you have had your defib for that long?

Regardless, if your lead is not connected, it has to be fixed. At least having an echo is not painful and you will find out your ejection fraction. Perhaps (I'm guessing) your doctor wants to see your ejection fraction and from there will decide how fast (or not) your leads need to be fixed.

I don't know much about leads other than they can come loose or even fracture sometimes at NO fault of our own.

As far as your doctor saying "it wasn't good and it wouldn't be as easy this time"...I'm sorry but I don't know what he meant by that comment. You're just going to have to be very frank with him when you get to sit down with him and discuss your ejection fraction results.

Wishing you all the best.

Take care,
Pookie

I'm confused, too!

by Tracey_E - 2010-11-09 10:11:17

Do you have a three lead pacemaker by any chance? That's the only type of pm I am aware of that increases ejection fraction. A regular pm has 2 leads, atrial and ventricular and it either paces or it doesn't so I don't see what difference ejection fraction would make to the urgency of fixing it, but maybe I'm missing something! A three lead has an atrial, one for each ventricle (this is how it increases ejection fraction) and an icd has an extra lead to deliver a shock if necessary.

A few things I would be asking...
-which lead is bad?
-are they removing the current bad lead or adding the new ones on top of it? If it's out of position but functioning, can they simply reposition instead of replace?
-if both leads that came out are the same type of head (most screw but some are barb), perhaps that is the problem and you need to try the other type?
-if removal, can it still be pulled out or is there enough scar tissue that you'd need an extraction? A year is about the cutoff for getting them out easily (i.e. not extracting).

If you need an extraction, go to a specialist. You only want someone doing one that does more than 100 per year, anything less than that is not enough expertise. You have not had it long enough that it should really be a problem so from the little bit you've said I'd call it more an annoyance than something that's a hard fix. Good luck!