[Total electrode retraction (Twiddler syndrome) in infection of the pacemaker system]

We report upon a case of total retraction of an electrode (Twiddler syndrom) in an infected pacemaker battery. The silk-thread fixation was still fastened at the right place on the electrode; the tissue owing to the inflammation was no longer sufficient as a fixation point. The casues of this total retraction of the electrode are the following factors: the battery hat sufficient freedom of movement for rotation following exudation into the pacemaker cavity, the electrode was elastic and above all the pacemaker system was infected which could no longer guarantee a sufficient fixation of the electrode in the infected tissue. Attention is drawn to the necessity to remove an infected pacemaker system.