Introduction: The need for infected device extraction has been rising. There is no clinical information on the use of Chest CT scan before lead removal.
Methods: : From a prospective registry at a tertiary referral center from October 2008 to October 2012, 410 patients were studied. All patients had gated chest CT scans without contrast before laser lead extraction. Three-dimensional reconstructions were done to enhance diagnostic abilities.
Results: Among 410 patients 74% were males and average age was 67?16 years. Mean EF was 35 ?14, NYHA 3.0? 0.7. Comorbidities were Coronary Artery Disease 53%, Diabetes Mellitus 38%, Hypertension 86% and Hemodialysis 8%. Indications for extraction were infection 54%, malfunction 41%. Devices extracted were pacemaker 32.9%, ICD 41.2%, CRT 25.8%. There were 16 patients (3.9%) with extracardiac leads. There were 32 patients (14.4%) with septic pulmonary emboli among 222 patients with device endocarditis.
Conclusions: : Gated CT scan of the chest is helpful in patients undergoing laser lead extraction in detecting leads in extracardiac location. Septic pulmonary emboli was identified in patients with device infection.