Fatal complications after pacemaker implantation in a baby.

In a three day-old infant with congenital heart block a pacemaker had to be inserted. Prolonged intravenous pacing led to septicaemia with fatal thrombotic complications. The potential spread of infection along the electrodes, and the danger of the presence of an intracardiac foreign body, suggest that myocardial electrodes may be superior in small infants.