Intermittent positional axillary vein compression – a rare complication of CIED implantation

Abstract

An 81-year-old male with an implanted DDD pacemaker reported fluctuating edema accompanied by pain and paresthesia affecting the hand and arm on the side the pacemaker had been implanted. These symptoms, which developed several weeks after the procedure, were more pronounced in the morning and resolved du - ring the day. Venography showed axillary vein compression, whose severity varied with different arm positions. Changing the location of the pacemaker pocket restored normal venous blood flow at the site of compression and relieved the patient’s symptoms, which was confirmed during follow-up.