Fatality following right atrial perforation by a screw-in pacemaker electrode.
This paper describes the first reported fatality from right atrial perforation complicating the insertion of a screw-in right atrial pacemaker electrode. The patient was an 84-year-old woman with the sick sinus syndrome who also had hepatic cirrhosis.
deRoux
Stephen J
SJ
Office of Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York, New York University School of Medicine, Department of Forensic Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA. npmd@comcast.net
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004566:Electrodes / Q000009:adverse effects*; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000293:injuries*; D006801:Humans; D010138:Pacemaker, Artificial; D014950:Wounds, Penetrating / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology