title: Conductor externalization of the Riata internal cardioverter defibrillator lead: tip of the iceberg? Report of three cases and review of literature.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Recently, concerns about St Jude's Riata lead family have come to light. We present three cases of patients with Riata internal cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) leads with externalized conductors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All patients had the same insulation defect, with externalized conductors, but differed in presentation and symptoms. These cases, which form 3 of 179 (1.68%) of our total Riata lead population, presented four or more years after implantation. This may be an indication that the problem with the Riata lead may well be greater than reported in the recent St Jude Medical device advisory letter.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The management of the Riata lead problem is discussed as, up until now, management of patients with an implanted Riata lead has been based on detecting electric abnormalities on regular ICD interrogation only.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Thoraxcentrum Twente, Medisch Spectrum Twente, PO Box 50000, 7500 KA Enschede, The Netherlands. h.dorman@mst.nl
authors.forename: H G Reinhart
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Dorman
authors.forename: Jurren M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: van Opstal
authors.forename: Jeroen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stevenhagen
authors.forename: Marcoen F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Scholten
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D017147:Defibrillators, Implantable; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D004867:Equipment Design; D004868:Equipment Failure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors