Benefit of the steroid electrode.

A permanent pacemaker was implanted in an 80-year-old patient with complete heart block. The electrode had to be changed six times (endocardial, five and epicardial, one) due to a progressive rise in threshold with recurrent exit block. A porous, steroid eluting, endocardial electrode was implanted and has given 27 months of excellent service. This lead may be ideal for patients who have a progressive increase in threshold after repeated electrode implantation.