CONCLUSIONS
Presence of younger age, abandoned leads and venous occlusion were found to be significant predictors of femoral bailout TLE. Our findings are in accordance with reports finding upper thoracic occluded veins to be predictors for catastrophic vascular tears, especially when using power tools. Therefore, upper extremity venography should be considered routinely prior to TLE.
Extraction failure of abandoned leads was prevalently observed even via femoral bailout, signifying the unique challenge these leads pose.
Despite the predictors listed above for femoral bailout TLE, our results suggest that femoral extraction is a relatively safe procedure and proper synergy of its use along with other approaches may optimize extraction procedural outcomes.