Lead Extraction: Considerations for the Referring Cardiologist.

The population of patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIED) continues to grow owing to increasing indications in an aging population and breakthroughs in both the medical and surgical care of patients with heart disease. In clinical practice there has been a growing need for device and lead extraction due to the growing population of patients with CIEDs and the subsequent need for system upgrades or revisions because of complications, infections and lead advisory alerts. In this condensed review, we will discuss aspects of transvenous lead extraction, with a special focus on considerations that would be relevant to the referring cardiologist.