open access
Intermittent positional axillary vein compression – a rare complication of CIED implantation


- Department of Cardiology, Central University Hospital in Warsaw,, Banacha St. 1A, 02-097 Warsaw Warsaw, Poland
- 1st Department of Cardiology, Medical University of Warsaw, Banacha St 1A, 02-097 Warsaw, Poland
open access
Abstract
An 81-year-old male with an implanted DDD pacemaker reported fluctuating edema accompanied by pain and paresthesia affecting the hand and arm on the side the pacemaker had been implanted. These symptoms, which developed several weeks after the procedure, were more pronounced in the morning and resolved during the day. Venography showed axillary vein compression, whose severity varied with different arm positions. Changing the location of the pacemaker pocket restored normal venous blood flow at the site of compression and relieved the patient’s symptoms, which was confirmed during follow-up.
Abstract
An 81-year-old male with an implanted DDD pacemaker reported fluctuating edema accompanied by pain and paresthesia affecting the hand and arm on the side the pacemaker had been implanted. These symptoms, which developed several weeks after the procedure, were more pronounced in the morning and resolved during the day. Venography showed axillary vein compression, whose severity varied with different arm positions. Changing the location of the pacemaker pocket restored normal venous blood flow at the site of compression and relieved the patient’s symptoms, which was confirmed during follow-up.
Keywords
pacemaker; venography; axillary vein; venous compression; occlusion


Title
Intermittent positional axillary vein compression – a rare complication of CIED implantation
Journal
Issue
Article type
Case report
Pages
144-146
Published online
2022-01-28
Page views
11436
Article views/downloads
245
DOI
10.5603/AA.2021.0012
Bibliographic record
Acta Angiologica 2021;27(4):144-146.
Keywords
pacemaker
venography
axillary vein
venous compression
occlusion


- Riezebos RK, Schroeder-Tanka J, de Voogt WG. Occlusion of the proximal subclavian vein complicating pacemaker lead implantation. Europace. 2006; 8(1): 42–43.
- Sharma H, Tiwari A. Recurrent Upper Extremity Thrombosis Associated with Overactivity: A Case of Delayed Diagnosis of Paget-Schroetter Syndrome. Case Rep Vasc Med. 2017; 2017: 8764903.
- Sanders RJ, Annest SJ. Pectoralis Minor Syndrome: Subclavicular Brachial Plexus Compression. Diagnostics (Basel). 2017; 7(3).
- Rizniotopoulou P, Apostolou CE, Fountoukis TN, et al. Pectoralis minor syndrome: Report of two cases and review. Hellenic Journal of Surgery. 2017; 89(3-4): 149–152.
- Yang HJ, Gil YC, Jin JD, et al. Novel findings of the anatomy and variations of the axillary vein and its tributaries. Clin Anat. 2012; 25(7): 893–902.
- Abdallah M, Wehbe MR, Elias E, et al. Pectoralis Minor Syndrome: Case Presentation and Review of the Literature. Case Rep Surg. 2016; 2016: 8456064.