Inadvertent transarterial pacemaker insertion: an unusual complication.
We describe an unusual complication of pacemaker treatment in a patient who died after a replacement operation. In a difficult situation in which a functioning pacemaker was highly desirable and in which most of the available veins had already been used, the pacemaker electrode was inserted, by mistake, through a small artery. This was not detected by fluoroscopy during surgery. The postoperative X-ray examination seemed to indicate that the electrode tip was located in the coronary sinus, but the subsequent autopsy revealed it to be located in the left ventricle.
D000368:Aged; D001158:Arteries / Q000601:surgery*; D006327:Heart Block / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007049:Iatrogenic Disease; D008297:Male; D009333:Neck / Q000098:blood supply*; D010138:Pacemaker, Artificial / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012086:Reoperation