The one that got away: A leadless pacemaker embolizes to the lungs

A novel technique for extraction of a leadless pacemaker that embolized to the pulmonary artery in a young patient: A case report

“…[4][5][6] There are other case reports that describe embolization of a leadless pacemaker to the pulmonary artery. 7,8 However, our case differs from each of these other reports by the description of a single large sheath to retrieve a Micra from a branch of a pulmonary artery using a 2-snare technique to safely retract the distal tines and control both ends of the device.…”

Lost but Not Lost—Embolization of a Leadless Pacemaker to the Pulmonary Artery with Consecutive Endovascular Recovery

“…A low complication rate has been reported in large trials [4], however, there is high demand for related literature as they still might occur. Feasibility of endovascular recovery of a dislocated and/or embolized TPS has been previously demonstrated in case reports for all currently (Micra ® , Wireless stimulation endocardial system (WiSE-CRT ® ); EBR Systems Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, USA) and formerly (Nanostim ® , St. Jude Medical) available leadless pacing systems, but these procedures are described as challenging [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. Dislocated right-sided devices (Micra ® , Nanostim ® ) mostly embolize into the pulmonary arteries, affecting either side (left vs. right) with its corresponding branches equally often [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15].…”

Leadless pacemaker tether failure during recapture attempt leading to device embolization

“…Device embolization is a rare but dreaded complication of a leadless pacemaker implant procedure 9 . In the Micra investigational device exemption study, 1 no device dislodgment or embolization was encountered.…”