A 64-year-old female, with multiple previous hospitalizations for acute heart failure, was admitted for shortness of breath, peripheral edema, and increasing abdominal size in her local hospital emergency department with subsequent hospitalization. She had a history of idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy with severe biventricular systolic dysfunction, secondary severe mitral and tricuspid regurgitation, and permanent atrial fibrillation. As part of the sequence of heart failure therapies, the patient also had a previous implant of an ICD for primary prevention 5 years before.\nDuring hospitalization, the patient developed diverse infectious complications which contributed to a slow resolution of acute heart failure, with the need of many days of inotropic and vasopressor support and subsequent suboptimization of heart failure therapy. As the patient was recognized as having criteria for advanced heart failure, she was referred and transferred to our advanced heart failure center.\nFollowing admission to our hospital, an ECG was performed, showing ventricular paced rhythm with RBBB pattern in V1 through V5 leads and extreme right axis displacement of the mean QRS in the frontal plane clearly indicating an electrical activation from the left ventricle [], which raised suspicion of ICD lead malposition. Chest radiography was performed also showing an abnormal lead path, suggestive of implantation of the lead in the left ventricle []. To confirm our suspicion, our patient then performed a transthoracic echocardiogram, which showed biventricular dilatation with moderate systolic dysfunction, severe mitral and tricuspid regurgitation, and signs of right ventricular pressure overload with plethoric inferior vena cava and abnormal septal motion with systolic “flattening” toward the left ventricle. Peak systolic gradient between the right ventricle and the right atrium was normal, probably underestimated because of right ventricular dysfunction and severe enlargement of the right atrium. However, the implanted ICD appeared to pass through the interatrial septum, with its lead tip in contact with the midsegment of the left ventricular anterolateral wall [-]. Our patient also underwent a transesophageal echocardiogram to better clarify valvular regurgitations and the behavior of the ICD lead at the level of the interatrial septum [-].\nInitially, our patient registered an important decrease in body weight and improvement in symptoms; however, after many days of stay, her hospitalization was complicated with refractory ascites and cardiogenic shock, with fast progression in INTERMACS classification. As our patient reached INTERMACS Level 2, we launched a desperate appeal for cardiac transplantation, as neither extracorporeal membrane oxygenation nor left ventricular assist devices were available at our center at the time. After a couple of days, we got contacted as there was an available heart, and our patient was promptly transferred to our cardiac surgery unit where she underwent successful orthotopic heart transplantation. Analysis of the explanted heart confirmed the presence in the left ventricle of the ICD catheter. Immediate postoperative course was favorable with extubation after 24 h, requiring inotropic support with dobutamine for 2 days with no need for mechanical support. The patient was discharged after 72 days after transplantation, and to this day remains symptom-free with no further hospitalizations.
A 23-year-old female with Ebstein's anomaly of tricuspid valve underwent one and half ventricular repair with tricuspid valve annuloplasty, atrial septal defect closure and cavopulmonary anastamosis of right superior venacava to the right pulmonary artery. She also needed dual chamber pacing for symptomatic bradycardia secondary to sinus nodal and atrioventricular nodal disease. There was no pre-excitation or tachyarrhythmias. Left atrial and left ventricular epicardial leads were connected to a pulse generator that was implanted in epigastric subcutaneous pocket. There was synchronous atrioventricular pacing with acceptable pacing thresholds during the time of implantation. Three months later, new onset symptomatic diaphragmatic pacing was observed from atrial lead. So the pacemaker was reprogrammed to pace ventricle alone. After another two months, diaphragmatic pacing was observed from ventricular lead too. The threshold voltage for ventricular capture was more than that of the diaphragm. The reasons for delayed onset diaphragmatic pacing through both leads almost five months after the epicardial lead placement and pacemaker implantation was not understood. Her symptoms related to bradycardia warranted permanent dual chamber pacing. Since extensive dissections will be needed through the previous surgical scars and adhesions in midline sternotomy and left thoracotomy, a second epicardial lead repositioning was not considered. A minimal incision right anterolateral thoracotomy was made and two introducer sheaths were inserted through two pursestring sutures placed on the right atrial free wall.() Two screw-in endocardial leads were inserted through the sheaths under transesophageal echocardiographic guidance into the right atrial appendage tip and right ventricular apex to achieve atrioventricular pacing. On a follow up of nine months, the patient was asymptomatic, pacing was synchronous and chest X-ray showed both the new and old leads. ()