Stent placement to stabilize the left ventricular lead in the coronary sinus

Abstract

Recently, cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) has been established as an effective treatment for drug-resistant heart failure with left ventricular dyssynchrony in patients with a New York Heart Association class (NYHA) of III-IV. Many cases have already been treated with CRT in Japan, however, some challenges still remains, such as difficult placement of the left ventricular (LV) lead at the target site, high threshold values even after successful placement of the LV lead, and the need to reposition of the LV lead due to diaphragmatic stimulation regardless of an appropriate threshold value. In particular, those cases with high threshold values at a distal site or those in which the lead is placed at a proximal site because of diaphragmatic stimulation are prone to lead dislodgement, and re-operation may be required. We report on a patient in whom stabilization of the LV lead was obtained by placing a coronary stent in the coronary sinus wall which resulted in an improved clinical course. (J Arrhythmia 2008; 24: 162-165)

A rare case of left ventricular lead stabilization utilizing a coronary stent placement during CRT-D implantation

“…Main disadvantages of lead stabilization using acoronary stent are lead damage, coronary venous obstruction by thrombosis, and inability of repositioning or extraction [2].…”