The University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kan., is the first facility in Kansas, and the region, to implant the Nanostim leadless pacemaker as part of a clinical trial, according to a spokesman.
The pacemaker is the world’s first retrievable, non-surgical pacing technology and the implants are made as part of the Leadless II Clinical Trial.
Developed for patients with bradycardia, a heart rate that is too slow, the device is placed directly in the patient’s heart without the visible lump, scar and insulated wires (called leads) required for conventional pacemakers. The hospital is one of only 50 in the United States and Canada offering the new device, according to a KU Hospital spokesman.
The leadless pacemaker is one-tenth the size of a conventional pacemaker and the least invasive pacing technology available today. Implanted through a vein in the leg with a steerable catheter, the device is screwed directly to the inside of the heart. The non-surgical procedure takes only 10-15 minutes, as opposed to about an hour, and no surgery means less chance of infection and much quicker recovery time, the spokesman said.
“This is definitely the way of the future,” said Dr. Dhanunjaya Lakkireddy, the electrophysiologist at The University of Kansas Hospital who implanted the first device. “While pacemakers have saved countless thousands of lives over the past 7 decades since the first devices were implanted, one of the major drawbacks has been complications related to the pacing lead which runs from the battery implanted in the chest and delivers the electrical impulse to the heart. This new device is so small and by attaching it directly to the inside of the heart, all the problems related to the old-fashioned pacemaker lead are eliminated. This is a big step forward in patient treatment and a milestone for cardiac rhythm management in the United States,” Dr. Lakkireddy said.
To see a KU Hospital video, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mMuVg3E5kQ.
– Story from KU Hospital