Extraction of 6-year-old leadless pacemaker (MICRA) using commercially
available removal tools- case report.
Abstract
In recent years, the number of patients with implanted leadless
pacemaker has increased significantly. Due to the small size of the
device, low risk of infection, indications for removal are rare. The
dwell time is correlated with extraction difficulty. Although the MICRA
TPS contains retrieval feature at the proximal part of the device, the
manufacturer (Medtronic) does not offer tools dedicated to this
procedure. Complete encapsulation of the device may also make removal
difficult or even impossible. We present the case of a patient in whom
MICRA TPS was successfully removed 70 months after implantation with
non-dedicated commercially available tools.