Twisting until it breaks: A rare cause of ICD lead failure

Abstract

We describe a rare case of Twiddler’s syndrome that resulted in a complex ICD lead fracture involving both the insulation and the conductor. The conductor fracture resulted in noise artefact that was interpreted by the device as ventricular fibrillation, but the patient had not received any shocks because the "episodes" were non-sustained. The patient did not have traditional risk factors for Twiddler’s syndrome.