An unusual case of pacemaker failure: complete disconnection of connector block and battery of a subpectorally implanted dual chamber pacemaker
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 1, 2026

A New Single Chamber Implantable Defibrillator with Atrial Sensing: A Practical Demonstration of Sensing and Ease of Implantation
Published on: February 28, 2012
Fritz Mellert1, Bahman Esmailzadeh, Christian Schneider
1Department of Cardiac Surgery, Heart Center at the University of Bonn, Germany. fritz.mellert@uni-bonn.de
Abstract:
Local trauma to patients with implanted pacemaker devices may result in lead fracture or breakage of the lead socket with leakage of fluid into the connector system. This report describes an unusual case of complete entrance and exit block in a subpectorally implanted dual chamber pacemaker due to total disconnection and dislodgement of header block and battery part. Damage may be caused by an interaction of machine fatigue/manufacturing defective and fixation of the header with unusual movability of the battery, leading to breakage with intermittent malfunction and consecutive bradycardia and syncope.

