The fate of nontargeted endocardial leads during the extraction of one or more targeted leads in pediatrics and congenital heart disease.

Introduction: Extraction of targeted endocardial leads can lead to inadvertent damage or dislodgement of nontargeted leads, though the frequency of this has not been reported in pediatrics and congenital heart disease (CHD).

Methods: This is a retrospective review of lead extraction procedures from 2002 to 2010 from two pediatric and CHD centers evaluating unplanned interventions on nontargeted leads during the extraction of one or more targeted leads.

Results: Nontargeted leads were present in the 22 lead extraction procedures performed on 20 patients with median age 15 years (interquartile range, 11.