What would happen if........

Hi,

What would happen if both the leads of my PM were to be pulled out by accident? I’ve had one lead come out (not the main lead only the back up) and it was pacing my diaphragm just felt like hiccups.  But what if both were to come out, would I pass out?  Would my heart take over?  (I pace at 98%), Could I have a heart attack?

Thanks

6 Comments

@ superstar

by jvaltos - 2010-12-30 04:12:03

Typically, as people pace more and more, the heart will often times suppress (can be permanently) the other back-up rate that the heart was at before the PPM.

Sounds scary but the ventricular (bottom) lead shouldn't dislodge or fall out that often. The lead "fall out" or dislodgement rate is higher in the atrium than the ventricle.

As far as causing a heart attack, the short answer is no, but IF you do not start back up on your own, then cardiac arrest could occurs from lack of heart beats.

Dr Valtos-

Always consult your personal physician about medications and other information found here or elsewhere on the internet.


What Would Happen

by SMITTY - 2010-12-30 08:12:25

If you lost the benefit of both leads, yes, you heart would take over and it would go back to doing what it was doing before you got the pacemaker. That means you would pass out just like you were doing before you got the pacemaker that is if you were passing out.

As for pacing 98% that does not necessarily mean your heart is or was dependent on the PM. For example, let's say your normal heart rate is 55 and the low set point on your pacemaker is 60. If your heart’s natural PM made you heart beat more than 60 only 2% of the time that would give you 98% pacing by your PM. As you can see in our example all that means is your PM is making your heart beat more than 55 BPM 98% of the time.

I would think that not having the benefit of the PM would not cause you to have a heart attack. However, since there are many factors that go into causing a person to have a heart attack, I suggest you ask your doctor what your risks are for a heart attack without your PM helping your heart.

Good luck,

Smitty

Have it checked

by ElectricFrank - 2010-12-30 09:12:00

About a year ago during an office check I asked the rep to suspend ventricular pacing to see where I am in case of a pacer failure. The Medtronics programmer has a provision where it can be set to stop pacing while a key is held down.Releasing it restarts pacing. I have complete block and my HR dropped to around 35.
We tested it first with my sitting in a chair and then again with my standing. I felt lousy (like before getting pacer) but no light headedness.

I've done a lot of deep breathing work over the years which helps. I've never experienced shortness of breath with any of my pace related issues. I tell them that I experience Longness of Breath. LOL

Great little devices,

frank

What Would Happen

by SUPERSTARDJ01 - 2010-12-30 11:12:45

I will do on my yearly check up, my standard heart rate before PM was 34-38 bpm and a low at night of 28bpm I have never passed out but have bradicardia and complete heart block on my left side, my low heart rate is now 60bpm and max 160.

Checked

by biker72 - 2010-12-31 10:12:13

I asked my PM tech that very question so we found out. He very carefully turned off the PM to see if my heart would work by itself.

My resting HR is 33 BPM with the PM off. I did feel a litle strange during that short period but not light headed at all.

Good to know!

by ElectricFrank - 2011-01-01 02:01:14

For those of us that are active and often away from immediate medical help it's good to know just how dependent we are. When I'm camping alone in my trailer several mile off a highway its nice to realize I can drive over to the road if my pace quits. In fact as long as I went slow I could walk back.

frank

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