Images in Clinical Medicine

Kim Eagle, M.D., Editor

Fracture of a Retention Wire in an Atrial J Pacemaker Lead

Marc Roelke, M.D., and Victor Parsonnet, M.D.

N Engl J Med 1996; 334:88January 11, 1996

• Slide

Article

Figure 1 A fracture of a retention wire in an atrial J pacemaker lead (model 330-801, Telectronics, Englewood, Colo.) was detected by chest radiography. The wire, which maintains the J shape of the lead, had fractured, and the distal fragment had migrated from the lead body. Both fragments, visible on the initial chest x-ray film taken at an oblique angle (Panel A, arrows), became more apparent when the image was enlarged (Panel B, arrows).

Kim Eagle, M.D.

Marc Roelke, M.D.
Victor Parsonnet, M.D.
Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, Newark, NJ 07112