Rib Perforation From a Right Ventricular Pacemaker Lead

“Twelve years ago, Singhal et al. described a right ventricular lead perforation which had eroded through a rib. Similar to this report, a small rib resection was done through a chest wall exploration. The right ventricle was repaired with a purse-string suture. This group recommended that percutaneous lead extractions such as this should be done in the operating room with a general anesthesia and transesophageal echo monitoring in case a cardiac injury needs to be directly repaired.”