Hyderabad: Gleneagles Global Hospitals today announced the successful implant of a Leadless Pacemaker in an 82-year old patient, who has recovered well and has gone back to leading a healthy and a normal life. The surgery was performed on Dr Palle Rama Rao, a well-known Indian scientist noted for his contribution to the field of Physical and Mechanical Metallurgy and a Padma Bhushan awardee.
Dr Sai Sudhakar, Chief Interventional Cardiologist at Gleneagles Global Hospitals who had implanted the Leadless Pacemaker said, “Leadless pacing is an emerging technology with the potential to significantly improve outcomes associated with the need for long-term pacing.
Specifically, the major advantage of leadless systems is abolishing the need for transvenous leads and subcutaneous pockets, both of which account for most adverse events associated with traditional pacemakers. Also, the procedure typically takes less time than a traditional pacemaker implant procedure. Since there are no wires or generator, you do not need to limit upper body activity after the implant”.
In this case patient was initially admitted for Heart Attack in which emergency stunt procedure was done, during course of action the patient was feeling giddiness/fall were seen and then later procedure Holter test was done to know the heart rhythm and then was diagnosed with Sick Sinus Syndrome (SSS) basing on the patient condition Leadless pacemaker is been used. Leadless Pacemaker is for the select group of cardiac patients with such heart ailments
Some of the advantages of the leadless pacemaker include:
- -Since Leadless pacemaker is a non-surgical procedure, the person is up and about much sooner.
- Since the pacemaker is not sitting in the chest, people can move their hands safely, and don’t have to worry about damaging the pacemaker with things like swimming or exercise.
- Cosmetically the pacemaker is invisible.
- The complication rate related to the leadless pacemaker is about 50 % lower as compared to a traditional pacemaker.
- Leads that connect traditional pacemakers to the heart undergo significant wear and tear over time and can fail to function. As a result additional procedures are required, putting people at higher risk of complications. These problems are not seen with the leadless pacemaker.
- Because the risk and complication rate is lower, the procedure itself is much less risky
Since the first transvenous pacemaker implantation, that took place 50 years ago, important progress has been achieved in pacing technology. Consequently, today, more than 700,000 pacemakers are implanted annually worldwide. However, conventional pacemakers’ implantation carries a non-negligible risk of periprocedural and long-term complications associated with the transvenous leads and pacemaker pocket.
Recently, Leadless Pacing Systems have emerged as a therapeutic alternative to conventional pacing systems providing therapy for patients with bradyarrhythmias, while eliminating potential transvenous leads and pacemaker pocket related complications. Initial studies demonstrate favourable efficacy and safety of currently developed Leadless Pacing Systems, compared to transvenous pacemakers.