Heart-device wires again under scrutiny

Wall Street Journal, May 14, 2009

A leading heart-doctor group urged cardiac-device companies to improve surveillance of heart-defibrillator wires after they are on the market, and is calling on hospitals to police the training and experience of surgeons who extract the wires. At issue are the electrical wires that connect life-saving electrical defibrillators to the hearts of patients with aberrant heartbeats. The issue of lead safety came to heightened public attention in October 2007 when Medtronic Inc. disclosed that its Sprint Fidelis leads were fracturing at a rate higher than some other leads, and that deaths had occurred as an apparent result.