RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: With extraction of cardiovascular implantable electronic devices (CIED) increasingly necessitated, various studies have contemplated to investigate clinical predictors for its success and complications. Intrinsic parameters of CIED leads have been studied less extensively and are the foci of this study. METHODS: Three major pacemaker manufacturers accepted invitation. Leads then underwent tensile test in vitro with their composite tensile strength (TS) compared. Mechanism of yielding, under tensile stress, was also observed among them. RESULTS: All pacing leads, participated in this study, surpassed requirement of European Standard EN 45502-2-1. Boston Scientific's FINELINE II STEROX 4456/52 cm (Boston Scientific Corp., St. Paul, MN, USA) and Medtronic's CAPSURE SENSE 4074/52 cm (Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN, USA) showed similar composite TS and both were stronger compared with St. Jude Medical's ISOFLEX OPTIM 1948/52 cm (P <0.001; St. Jude Medical, Sylmar, CA, USA). Despite a difference in the exact site, the Medtronic 4074 and St. Jude Medical 1948 yielded similarly in that their distal tip electrode remained connected with a flimsy inner coil to proximal portion of the lead after their composite TS was exceeded. Boston Scientific 4456's insulation tubing and coil wire broke almost simultaneously and separated completely from the tip electrode when it yielded. CONCLUSIONS: FINELINE II STEROX 4456/52 cm and CAPSURE SENSE 4074/52 cm showed stronger composite tensile strength than ISOFLEX OPTIM 1948/52 cm. FINELINE II STEROX 4456 was found more prone to complete severance. Limitations and precautions to translate these differences directly into real-life scenario are discussed.