Venous obstruction due to permanent transvenous pacemaker electrodes: treatment with percutaneous transluminal balloon venoplasty.

Transvenous placement of permanent pacemaker leads is currently the most common method for permanent cardiac pacing. Venous abnormalities, in particular venous stenosis or thrombosis (or both) frequently have been described, although most patients remain asymptomatic because of the development of an adequate venous collateral circulation. Venous obstruction often first becomes apparent during pacemaker lead revision, when difficulty passing the new pacing lead is encountered. In this report, we present two cases of venous stenosis and thrombosis due to permanent transvenous pacemaker electrodes and the use of percutaneous transluminal balloon venoplasty to relieve the venous obstruction.