Przezżylne usuwanie elektrod. Techniki, wskazania oraz dostępne narzędzia

In the current paper the topic of transvenous lead removal was presented. Indications for this procedure including infections complications, chronic pain, vein thrombosis or its narrowing, removal of the damaged or functionally active electrode were shown in details. Various techniques of the electrode removal with the available equipment were also described. In experienced centers, the effectiveness of electrode removal is about 97%, the number of serious complications varies from 0.4 to 1.4%, and mortality rate is about 0.3–0.6%. The only risk factor of this procedure is the time elapsed since electrode implantation.