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This article, titled "Lead Extraction of Very Old Leads¿A GALLERY Subgroup Analysis," discusses the safety and efficacy of laser lead extraction in a subgroup of patients with leads implanted for at least 10 years. The study analyzed data from the German Laser Lead Extraction Registry (GALLERY) and found that transvenous lead extraction in leads aged 10 years or more had a high success rate and low complication rates, with a low procedure-related mortality. The article concludes that increased lead age should not be a contraindication for lead extraction. [Extracted from the article]

Aims: The GermAn Laser Lead Extraction RegistrY: GALLERY is a retrospective, national multicentre registry, investigating the safety and efficacy of laser lead extraction procedures in Germany., Methods and Results: Twenty-four German centres that are performing laser lead extraction have participated in the registry. All patients, treated with a laser lead extraction procedure between January 2013 and March 2017, were consecutively enrolled. Safety and efficacy of laser lead extraction were investigated. A total number of 2524 consecutive patients with 6117 leads were included into the registry. 5499 leads with a median lead dwell time of 96 (62-141) months were treated. The mean number of treated leads per patient was 2.18 ± 1.02. The clinical procedural success rate was 97.86% and the complete lead removal was observed in 94.85%. Additional extraction tools were used in 6.65% of cases. The rate of procedural failure was 2.14% with lead age  ≥10 years being its only predictor. The overall complication rate was 4.32%, including 2.06% major and 2.26% minor complications. Procedure-related mortality was 0.55%. Female sex and the presence of abandoned leads were predictors for procedure-related complications. The all-cause in-hospital mortality was 3.56% with systemic infection being the strongest predictor, followed by age ≥75 years and chronic kidney disease., Conclusion: In the GALLERY, a high success- and low procedure-related complication rates have been demonstrated. In multivariate analysis, female sex and the presence of abandoned leads were predictors for procedure-related complications, while the presence of systemic infection, age ≥75 years, and chronic kidney disease were independent predictors for all-cause mortality., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: S.P. reports grants and personal fees from Philips/Spectranetics, Medtronic, and AtriCure. H.B. reports grants and personal fees from Philips/Spectranetics, Cook Medical, Zoll Medical, Braun Medical, Abbott, Sorin Group/LivaNova, Impulse Dynamics, Biotronik, and Medtronic. B.O. reports grants and personal fees from Philips/Spectranetics and Medtronic. H.E. reports personal fees from Philips/Spectranetics. N.G. reports grants and personal fees from Boston Scientific, Medtronic, and Bayer Vital. M.K. reports grants and personal fees from Philips/Spectranetics, Zoll Medical, Sorin Group/LivaNova, Medtronic, Boston Scientific, and CVRx. H.R. reports personal fees from Medtronic. S.W. reports grants and personal fees from Abbott, Boston Scientific, Medtronic, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Bayer Vital, Acutus, and Daiichi Sankyo. S.H. reports grants and personal fees from Boston Scientific, Edwards Lifesciences, Medtronic, Meril, Philips/Spectranetics, and Zoll Medical. All other authors have no conflicts of interest., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

In this article the case of a patient who received a total of 35 inappropriate defibrillator shocks due to insulation failure with externalized conductor of a Biotronik Linox® lead is described. The implanted defibrillator was immediately inactivated and the failed lead was extracted using a laser sheath system.

A case of pacemaker electrode infection with Staphylococcus aureus is presented. In order to avoid sternotomy, the right ventricular pacemaker lead, which had been implanted for 15 years, was successfully extracted using a laser sheath despite large endocarditic vegetations on the pacemaker lead. After completion of a 6-week course of antibiotics, the patient was discharged without any further evidence of infection.

Autoimmune pancreatitis (AuP) is a chronic pancreatic inflammation secondary to an underlying autoimmune mechanism. After early reports of a particular type of pancreatitis associated with hypergammaglobulinemia, others asserted that there is an autoimmune mechanism involved in some patients with chronic pancreatitis. In 1995 AuP was first described as a distinct clinical entity. Since then, there have been many documented cases of AuP in Japan, and now, perhaps due to increased awareness, more cases are being reported in Europe and the United States. Herein we present our experience with 3 cases of AuP and we review the relevant literature. These 3 cases demonstrate the difficulties that exist in making the diagnosis of AuP and the impact that the diagnosis can have on patient management.