Background: Defibrillator lead malfunction is a potential long-term complication in patients with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). The aim of this study was to determine the incidence and causes of lead malfunction necessitating surgical revision and to evaluate 2 approaches to treat lead malfunction.
Methods and results: We included 1317 consecutive patients with an ICD implanted at 3 European centers between 1993 and 2004. The types and causes of lead malfunction were recorded. If the integrity of the high-voltage part of the lead could be ascertained, an additional pace/sense lead was implanted. Otherwise, the patients received a new ICD lead. Of the 1317 patients, 38 experienced lead malfunction requiring surgical revision and 315 died during a median follow-up of 6.4 years. At 5 years, the cumulative incidence was 2.5% (95% confidence interval, 1.5 to 3.6). Lead malfunction resulted in inappropriate ICD therapies in 76% of the cases. Implantation of a pace/sense lead was feasible in 63%. Both lead revision strategies were similar with regard to lead malfunction recurrence (P=0.8). However, the cumulative incidence of recurrence was high (20% at 5 years; 95% confidence interval, 1.7 to 37.7).
Conclusions: ICD lead malfunction necessitating surgical revision becomes a clinically relevant problem in 2.5% of ICD recipients within 5 years. In selected cases, simple implantation of an additional pace/sense lead is feasible. Regardless of the chosen approach, the incidence of recurrent ICD lead-related problems after lead revision is 8-fold higher in this population.