pacemaker and swollen arm

[agriffin]

My father has had a pacemaker for 11 years.  His left arm is now swollen and has been for quite sometime.  If he cuts his arm, an oozy substance (rather than blood) emits from the wound.  Cellulitus and lymphodema (hopefully I have used correct spelling) have been ruled out.  He saw a vascular specialist today.  The specialist seemed a little stumped by his condition.  My father is having a test done tomorrow.  This test may show if the lead from his pacemaker is causing an infection or blockage.

I wonder if the inflamation in his arm is some sort of sign of kidney failure.  I may just be jumping to conclusions.  I'm worried.  His condition seems to be stumping all of his doctors.  Any advice/information would be appreciated.

[itdood]

If the fluid was clear it was lymph.  This is the only scenario I can think of.  There's no way that anything other than blood is flowing through his vascular system.  he's not cutting blood vessels, has to be absorbed lymph into his dermal region.

He could be having a problem reabsorbing lymph or one of the valves in his lymphatic system is not working properly.  Therefore lymph is not draining from his arm, it is storing in his arm tissue and swelling.   If it has been identified as lymph, he should be at least getting lymphatic message and wearing some sort of compression garment to ease the symptoms.

There's quite a few reasons why this might happen, a few I can think of are:

Castleman's disease
lymphedema tarda

[ireneo]

Are they checking for PAD (peripheral artery disease)? Looks like they've checked his lymph nodes. And infection should show up systemically as well - blood work, fever. Hope he finds the answer soon.