Twiddler's syndrome is a malfunction of a

pacemaker An artificial cardiac pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the natural cardiac pacemaker) or pacemaker is a medical device that generates electrical impulses delivered by electrodes to the chambers of the heart eith ...

due to manipulation of the device and the consequent dislodging of the leads from their intended location. As the leads move, they stop pacing the heart and can cause strange symptoms such as

phrenic nerve The phrenic nerve is a mixed motor/sensory nerve which originates from the C3-C5 spinal nerves in the neck. The nerve is important for breathing because it provides exclusive motor control of the diaphragm, the primary muscle of respiration. In ...

stimulation resulting in abdominal pulsing or

brachial plexus The brachial plexus is a network () of nerves formed by the anterior rami of the lower four cervical nerves and first thoracic nerve ( C5, C6, C7, C8, and T1). This plexus extends from the spinal cord, through the cervicoaxillary canal in th ...

stimulation resulting in rhythmic arm twitching. Twiddler´s syndrome in patients with an implanted defibrilator may lead to inadequate, painful defibrillation-shocks.

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{{Medical resources , DiseasesDB = , ICD10 = {{ICD10, T82.198 , ICD9 = , ICDO = , OMIM = , MedlinePlus = , eMedicineSubj = , eMedicineTopic = , MeshID = Cardiology Syndromes