Complications of permanent transvenous cardiac pacing.
Clinical experience with permanent transvenous pacing during a 6 year period at Hannover Medical School is presented. A total of 1,376 pacemaker operations were performed in 799 patients, with a mortality rate of 1.1 per cent. The most common complications were premature battery failure, dislocation of endocardial electrodes, infections of the generator and/or electrodes, and skin ulcerations. In our cumulative follow-up period of 1,225 years, a complication necessitating a reoperation is to be expected after an average function-time of 31 months. Including normal battery exhaustion in this calculation will make reoperation necessary every 21.9 months.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005860:Germany, West; D006801:Humans; D007049:Iatrogenic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008722:Methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000209:etiology; D010138:Pacemaker, Artificial / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D012883:Skin Ulcer / Q000209:etiology; D013997:Time Factors