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Question:
Is it a complicated procedure to move the ICD to the RIGHT side? I'm to have radiation on the left.
I must have radiation therapy on my left axillary area, but have my biventricular ICD implanted on that side. Is it a complicated procedure to move the ICD to the RIGHT side? My oncologist said that he requires this in order to have a clear CT scan of the left chest to prepare for the therapy. Thank you very much for your time.
submitted by Tom from New Jersey on 5/24/2014
Answer:
by Texas Heart Institute cardiologist, Mehdi Razavi, MD
Typically this will require tunneling your current leads under the skin and soft tissues across the chest and to the opposite side. The generator will be re-connected on that side. This is done using a tunneling device. The requirement for this is that the leads be long enough so as to reach the right side. The other alternative is placement of new leads with or without removal of the current ones.
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Updated May 2014
