Pacemaker contact dermatitis: The effective use of a polytetrafluoroethylene sheet.

A 52-year-old man with Down's syndrome was implanted with a DDDR pacemaker for advanced atrioventricular block. He was admitted with development of skin eczema and partial exposure of the generator 1 year after reimplantation. There was no evidence of infection on laboratory data. A skin patch test was positive for the metal of the generator (purity 99.9% titanium) after 72 hours. These findings indicated pacemaker contact dermatitis. After the patient was reimplanted with a pacemaker wrapped with a polytetrafluoroethylene sheet, there has been no recurrence of the contact dermatitis during a follow-up period of 3 years.