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.