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medpundit |
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Tuesday, November 01, 2005When I saw her in my office five days later, she recalled that she had had screening mammography on December 21, 2004 (the same date that the lead warning had occurred). She recalled that, when her right breast was firmly compressed between the radiography plate and the upper plate, the pain was so excruciating that she screamed, and the procedure was aborted until the pain resolved. Bilateral mammography was then carried out uneventfully. Given the coincident timing of this patient's mammogram and the lead fracture, it is likely that the lead was crushed during the initial attempted mammography. Mammography and pacemaker implantation are both common procedures. More than 30 million women in the United States have mammograms annually; there are also 3 million American women with cardiac pacemakers. In conclusion, damage to a permanent pacing lead occurred during mammography. During mammographic examination in women with cardiac pacemakers, strict attention must be paid to avoiding damage to the pacemaker. That must have hurt. posted by Sydney on 11/01/2005 06:16:00 PM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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