title: Left heart pacing--experience with several types of coronary vein leads.
abstract: Our experience with 121 coronary vein (CV) leads in 116 patients shows that CV leads are the leads of choice for pacing the left ventricle (LV). The information gained from pre-operative venous angiography permits individual selection of the most appropriate lead model for each case. The use of steerable electrophysiology catheters facilitates guide catheter cannulation of the coronary sinus (CS) when the anatomy is difficult and reduces the risk of complications. By selecting the CV lead model most suitable for each individual patient, we achieved successful implantation in 99.1% of patients. In this day and age, epicardial electrodes should be restricted to cases with CS anomalies which make CS cannulation impossible, and to LV lead implantation during heart surgery.
authors.affiliation: Heart Center NRW, Ruhr-University of Bochum, Georgstrasse 11, D-32545 Bad Oeynhausen, Germany. b.hansky@hdz-nrw.de
authors.forename: Bert
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hansky
authors.forename: Juergen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vogt
authors.forename: Holger
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gueldner
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lamp
authors.forename: Gero
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tenderich
authors.forename: Leon
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Krater
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heintze
authors.forename: Kazutomo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Minami
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Horstkotte
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Koerfer
mesh_terms: D002304:Cardiac Pacing, Artificial / Q000379:methods*; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003331:Coronary Vessels; D004867:Equipment Design; D004869:Equipment Safety; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010138:Pacemaker, Artificial; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012494:Sampling Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy*