TLE procedures
The characteristics of the pacemaker infections and TLE procedures in all patients are summarized in Table 2. All 8 patients were diagnosed with a pocket infection identified by typical local inflammatory changes such as erythema, swelling, and/or erosions of the skin, but differed in their severity. Of those, in 2 patients (patients No.1 and No.2) lead involvement was revealed by transesophageal and transthoracic echocardiography but they had negative blood cultures. There was one patient (patient No.8) who had evidence of a positive blood culture for Staphylococcus aureus. Preprocedural venography demonstrated an occlusion in the ipsilateral subclavian vein in 6 patients (75%). Seven patients (88%) underwent TLEs under general anesthesia and 1 under conscious sedation (patient No.4). In two patients (patients No.2 and No.4) with a short lead dwelling time, a complete lead removal could be achieved by only using a snare technique. Four patients used an excimer laser sheath technique and four other patients used a mechanical sheath technique including 2 with a non-powered polypropylene sheath, 1 with a bidirectional rotational mechanical sheath, and 1 with both techniques. There were no patients that required open-heart surgery support. The mean procedural duration was 141.8 ± 49.7 minutes. Complete procedural success was achieved in all TLEs. There were no major or minor complications among the patients.