Introduction
Over the last decades, the number of cardiac implantable electronic
devices (CIED) implanted has steadily increased as technological
advances have allowed for a greater number of conditions to be treated
with CIEDs (1,2). Long-term CIED implants are usually associated with a
need to add or replace existing electrodes due to lead failure or need
for device upgrade, with many patients having abandoned leads which
increase the risk of infection and venous thrombosis. Moreover, implants
are being performed in older patients with more comorbidities (3,4).
This increase in implants and the use of devices in older, sicker
patients have led to a higher number of device related infection and
lead related complications (5,6). As such, there is an increasing need
for lead extraction procedures (7,8). Although technological advances
have allowed for safer and easier percutaneous lead extraction
procedures, access to different tools and the high costs limit in many
cases their widespread availability and as such their use varies in
different institutions and countries.
Although several centers in Latin America perform lead extraction,
objective data on current practice is lacking. In order to obtain
information on the current lead extraction practice in Latin America, we
performed this survey.