Management of malfunctioning and recalled pacemaker and defibrillator leads: results of the European Heart Rhythm Association survey

The aim of this survey was to describe the different strategies regarding the management of malfunctioning and recalled pacemaker and defibrillator leads across Europe. A questionnaire has been designed to assess the current practice and physician's approach to the management of leads which are faulty, unnecessary, and/or recalled. Responses to the questionnaire were received from 34 hospitals-members of the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) electrophysiology (EP) research network. The survey involved both very high and low volume implanting centres, with 85% of the responding centres performing lead extraction. The survey provides a panoramic view of operator's decision making in the field of malfunctioning, recalled, and redundant leads and outlines a common point of view on lead abandonment and factors influencing the decision about lead extraction. The main factors strongly influencing the decision making were patient's age (59%), the presence of the damaged leads (44%), and the lead dwelling time (44%). Regarding the lead abandonment, the main concern (61%) was the potential greater difficulty associated with lead extraction in the future. High volume extracting centres showed a greater propensity to removing the malfunctioning or recalled leads compared with low volume or non-extracting centres. This EP Wire survey gives a snapshot of the operators' approaches and options regarding redundant, malfunctioning, and recalled lead management and may form the basis for future prospective research on this topic.