Pseudoleads on Transesophageal Echocardiography

摘要

class="kwd-title">Keywords: Implanted cardiac device, Retained cardiac device leads, Bacteremia, Pseudoleads, Transesophageal echocardiogram, Vegetation class="head no_bottom_margin" id="sec1title">IntroductionWhen implanted cardiac devices (ICDs) become infected, complete removal of the device generator and leads is required to curtail the dangerous consequences of infection. Following removal of infected ICDs, unaccounted-for structures, described as freely floating, mobile, echodense masses, have been reported to remain on echocardiographic examinations., , The etiology of these masses has been discovered as fibrin casts that have formed around the ICD leads., Cardiac pseudolead casts that remain after lead extractions have implications for worsened clinical outcomes and increased mortality., , We describe a case in which an infected ICD was removed fully intact, but pseudoleads remained visible on subsequent transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in a patient with recurrent bacteremia. The importance of these pseudoleads in clinical outcome and management is discussed.