Annular erythema over a pacemaker site can be an early sign of impending pacemaker extrusion, highlighting the need for careful multidisciplinary follow-up of pacemaker-associated skin lesions.
Annular erythema over pacemakers warrants vigilance for extrusion; single case leaves open generalizability and screening utility.
A 72-year-old patient with an implanted cardiac pacemaker presented with a circumscribed erythematous area on his chest. It was only several months later, after he had developed positional, localized pain in this area, that the diagnosis of an impending pacemaker extrusion became evident. This case illustrates the diagnostic difficulties in patients with pacemaker-associated skin lesions. Regular follow-up examinations and close co-operation of dermatologists, cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons are of major importance in view of the potentially life-threatening complications.
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Hans Wilhelm Kaiser Rainer Gerdsen (1999) studied this question.
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