This device has been implanted, with optimal results, in ten patients who require a high percentage of stimulation and suffer from some type of heart disease.
A pacemaker is a small device implanted in the chest to help control the heartbeat. The problem with conventional pacemakers is that they generate an “abnormal” or less physiological heartbeat. This means that some patients - those who require a high percentage of stimulation and suffer from some type of heart disease - can develop long-term complications such as making the heart pump less strongly and consequently retain fluids. Fortunately, Hospital La Luz is one of the centers in Spain that offer a pacemaker implantation technique capable of preventing this type of problems.
As explained by the cardiologist responsible for the Arrhythmia Unit of the La Luz Hospital, Juan Benezet, the key to this technique is its new way of stimulating the heart. As indicated, “when you implant a pacemaker in a conventional way, the origin of the electrical stimulus of the heart is located where the end of the ventricular cable is and that is usually the tip of the right ventricle. A heartbeat is generated, but the origin of that heartbeat is abnormal, it is not how it is produced under normal conditions.”
“Conventional stimulation generates heartbeats that result in the patient not having dizziness, not losing consciousness and feeling better. However, not all patients tolerate it well. In patients with heart disease (previous heart attacks, valve surgery...) or other heart problems, and who require stimulation a high percentage of the time, this abnormal stimulus can cause the heart to pump less strongly and retain fluids (heart failure). or the heart muscle weakens,” details the cardiologist.
According to the specialist, this new stimulation technique can avoid these potential complications “by placing the cable in the interventricular septum (the wall that separates the right ventricle from the left) and more specifically, stimulating the left branch, which is where it runs. the cardiac stimulus normally, we achieve a heartbeat that is as close to normal and physiological as possible."
This more physiological stimulation achieves very good results. As Dr. Juan Benezet details, “at La Luz Hospital we are using it in patients who will need a pacemaker that stimulates for a long time. In these cases, physiological stimulation is more beneficial.”
The Arrhythmia Unit of the La Luz Hospital has already used this technique in ten patients with optimal results. In the words of the cardiologist, “in the patient who requires a pacemaker, we first assess if he is going to need a lot of stimulation and if he has some type of heart disease. If both criteria are met, we consider that he is a candidate to receive a physiological stimulation system.”
Once implanted, the follow-up typical of any patient with a pacemaker is carried out: “Checks a week after the implant, three months later, then six months later and then once a year,” explains Dr. Benezet. According to the expert, multiple studies demonstrate the benefits of this implant technique in this type of patient, “in addition, large ongoing trials are evaluating the benefits of this technique in other scenarios,” indicates the cardiologist.
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