Usefulness of a New Active‐Fixation Lead in Transvenous Temporary Pacing from the Femoral Approach

Abstract

Temporary transvenous pacing is associated with a high incidence of complications with a substantial dislocation rate reported to occur in more than one-third of patients. This article describes a novel 3.5 Fr temporary pacing lead using active fixation in a consecutive series of 42 patients with prolonged (> or = 48 hours) temporary pacing. The dislocation rate was 4.8%, while in 7.1% of patients inappropriate pacing (more than a twofold increase of initial pacing threshold) was observed. The total procedural related complication rate (dislocation, inappropriate pacing, local infection, and/or thrombosis) was 31% during a mean duration of pacing of 5.96 +/- 2.6 days. Ambulatory pacing was performed in the vast majority (74%) of patients. Temporary transvenous pacing using an active-fixation lead is safe and permits long-term ambulatory pacing with a low dislocation rate.