Skip to main content
PMC home page
British Heart Journal logoLink to British Heart Journal
. 1992 Jan;67(1):65–66. doi: 10.1136/hrt.67.1.65

Pacemaker electrode implantation in patients with persistent left superior vena cava.

F Zerbe 1, J Bornakowski 1, W Sarnowski 1
PMCID: PMC1024704  PMID: 1739529

Abstract

Four out of 661 consecutive patients with permanent endocardial VVI pacing had the pacing lead introduced through a persistent left superior vena cava. It was difficult to introduce the lead from the right atrium into the right ventricle because the tip of the lead tended to be deflected away from the tricuspid orifice. This difficulty was overcome by shaping the lead into a pigtail with 3-4 cm wide loop. This avoided the risk of entering a branch of the coronary sinus in order to reach the right atrium. This technique made it easier to position the lead in the right ventricular apex. There were no complications in these four patients during a mean follow up of three years.

Full text

PDF
65

Images in this article

65Image
on p.65

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Dirix L. Y., Kersschot I. E., Fierens H., Goethals M. A., Van Daele G., Claessen G. Implantation of a dual chamber pacemaker in a patient with persistent left superior vena cava. Pacing Clin Electrophysiol. 1988 Mar;11(3):343–345. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-8159.1988.tb05015.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Fisher M. R., Hricak H., Higgins C. B. Magnetic resonance imaging of developmental venous anomalies. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 1985 Oct;145(4):705–709. doi: 10.2214/ajr.145.4.705. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Foale R., Bourdillon P. D., Somerville J., Rickards A. Anomalous systemic venous return: recognition by two-dimensional echocardiography. Eur Heart J. 1983 Mar;4(3):186–195. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.eurheartj.a061438. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Gillmer D. J., Vythilingum S., Mitha A. S. Problems encountered during insertion of permanent endocardial pacing electrode. Pacing Clin Electrophysiol. 1981 Mar;4(2):212–215. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-8159.1981.tb06545.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Greenberg P., Castellanet M., Messenger J., Ellestad M. H. Coronary sinus pacing clinical follow-up. Circulation. 1978 Jan;57(1):98–103. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.57.1.98. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Hussain S. A., Chakravarty S., Chaikhouni A., Smith J. R. Congenital absence of superior vena cava: unusual anomaly of superior systemic veins complicating pacemaker placement. Pacing Clin Electrophysiol. 1981 May;4(3):328–334. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-8159.1981.tb03704.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Moss A. J., Rivers R. J., Cooper M. Long-term pervenous atrial pacing from the proximal portion of the coronary vein. JAMA. 1969 Jul 28;209(4):543–545. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Otto A. C., van Aswegen A., Herbst C. P., Kleynhans P. H., Marx J. D., du Toit P., Lötter M. G., Minnaar P. C. Persistent left superior vena cava detected with radionuclide angiocardiography. Clin Nucl Med. 1985 Jan;10(1):27–29. doi: 10.1097/00003072-198501000-00010. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Robbens E. J., Ruiter J. H. Atrial pacing via unilateral persistent left superior vena cava. Pacing Clin Electrophysiol. 1986 Jul;9(4):594–596. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-8159.1986.tb06617.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Rose M. E., Gross L., Protos A. Transvenous pacemaker implantation by way of an anomalous left superior vena cava. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 1971 Dec;62(6):965–966. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. STEINBERG I., DUBILIER W., Jr, LUKAS D. S. Persistence of left superior vena cava. Dis Chest. 1953 Nov;24(5):479–488. doi: 10.1378/chest.24.5.479. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Smith K. S. Maurice Campbell. Br Heart J. 1972 Jan;34(1):1–2. doi: 10.1136/hrt.34.1.1. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Westerman G. R., Baker J., Dungan W. T., Van Devanter S. H. Permanent pacing through a persistent left superior vena cava: an approach and report of dual-chambered lead placement. Ann Thorac Surg. 1985 Feb;39(2):174–176. doi: 10.1016/s0003-4975(10)62560-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Wiles H. B. Two cases of left superior vena cava draining directly to a left atrium with a normal coronary sinus. Br Heart J. 1991 Mar;65(3):158–160. doi: 10.1136/hrt.65.3.158. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Yiannikas J., Moodie D. S., Gill C. C., Sterba R., McIntyre R., Buonocore E. Intravenous digital subtraction angiography in the assessment of patients with left to right shunts before and after surgical correction. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1984 Jun;3(6):1507–1514. doi: 10.1016/s0735-1097(84)80290-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Zardo F., Nicolosi G. L., Burelli C., Zanuttini D. Dual-chamber transvenous pacemaker implantation via anomalous left superior vena cava. Am Heart J. 1986 Sep;112(3):621–622. doi: 10.1016/0002-8703(86)90534-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Heart Journal are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES