82-yr-old man first from Central India to get leadless pacemaker implanted
Snehlata Shrivastav | tnn | Dec 27, 2018, 05:45 IST
Nagpur: A 82-year-old man from Madhya Pradesh has become the first person in Central India to be implanted with leadless pacemakers. These tiny machines are inserted directly into the heart, unlike regular pacemakers implanted just below the skin on the chest.
Over last two months, doctors had installed a pacemaker on each side of his chest. However, both times the skin flap, made to house the pacemaker and the controller device, got infected and the pacemaker had to be removed.
The symptoms, low heart rate, could not be corrected by any other intervention. With no other option left, Dr Nitin Tiwari, interventional cardiologist at Wockhardt Heart Hospital, decided to take a chance with the pacemaker but this time a ‘leadless pacemaker’, giving a new lease of life to the patient. It is the first time a leadless (wireless) pacemaker was used by a doctor in Vidarbha and Central India on any patient.
The leadless pacemaker is a small device (about 93% smaller than other pacemakers). It does not require external wires or leads to reach the right ventricle. The entire device has a mass of 1.75gm and a volume of 0.8cc. It is a miniature device sent directly to the heart through a catheter, like that used in angioplasty. The device is also called ‘Micra’ as it is world’s smallest pacemaker.
The procedure to implant a leadless pacemaker requires some expertise and skill. In conventional pacemaker, the machine and controlling device with the battery are all put on one side of the chest by creating a flap. This causes a scar on the chest and the flap bulges out a little from the chest. The device sends one, two or even three leads inside the heart as per the need to send electrical impulses to maintain the required heart rate .
“Patients feel uncomfortable with the device and many times unknowingly or knowingly fiddle with it, which can make the device non-functional. But no such fear exists in leadless pacemaker as the whole device sits in the ventricle,” said Dr Tiwari.
This patient had two episodes of syncope, collapsing and falling. His son wanted the best possible treatment for his father. “Though he had already spent a few lakhs in putting two pace makers and medicines, the son still insisted on the best treatment. So, despite the pacemaker costing Rs8.5 lakh the hospital charged Rs7.5 lakh from him for the device as well as the implantation and hospitalization,” said K Sujatha, hospital head.
Over last two months, doctors had installed a pacemaker on each side of his chest. However, both times the skin flap, made to house the pacemaker and the controller device, got infected and the pacemaker had to be removed.
The symptoms, low heart rate, could not be corrected by any other intervention. With no other option left, Dr Nitin Tiwari, interventional cardiologist at Wockhardt Heart Hospital, decided to take a chance with the pacemaker but this time a ‘leadless pacemaker’, giving a new lease of life to the patient. It is the first time a leadless (wireless) pacemaker was used by a doctor in Vidarbha and Central India on any patient.
The leadless pacemaker is a small device (about 93% smaller than other pacemakers). It does not require external wires or leads to reach the right ventricle. The entire device has a mass of 1.75gm and a volume of 0.8cc. It is a miniature device sent directly to the heart through a catheter, like that used in angioplasty. The device is also called ‘Micra’ as it is world’s smallest pacemaker.
The procedure to implant a leadless pacemaker requires some expertise and skill. In conventional pacemaker, the machine and controlling device with the battery are all put on one side of the chest by creating a flap. This causes a scar on the chest and the flap bulges out a little from the chest. The device sends one, two or even three leads inside the heart as per the need to send electrical impulses to maintain the required heart rate .
“Patients feel uncomfortable with the device and many times unknowingly or knowingly fiddle with it, which can make the device non-functional. But no such fear exists in leadless pacemaker as the whole device sits in the ventricle,” said Dr Tiwari.
This patient had two episodes of syncope, collapsing and falling. His son wanted the best possible treatment for his father. “Though he had already spent a few lakhs in putting two pace makers and medicines, the son still insisted on the best treatment. So, despite the pacemaker costing Rs8.5 lakh the hospital charged Rs7.5 lakh from him for the device as well as the implantation and hospitalization,” said K Sujatha, hospital head.
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