Guidant 8 yrs old

Yes I still have a Guidant Insignia that is now 8 yrs old. When originally implanted battery life was predicted at 9 years. At a recent interrogation the battery estimate said 5+ years left. Gas Guage was reading about 50%. I'm 100% paced and have a very active job. does anyone have experience with this? Has anyone had their battery last 13 years? seems way off.

6 Comments

great news

by Tracey_E - 2013-12-17 08:12:01

Lucky you! The most I've ever had one last is 7 years (I'm on #4). That one was estimated 4-5 years, I pace every beat also, so 7 was pretty good. I've heard of people getting as much as 15 years out of one. The number they give you is based on current usage/settings and it's usually a range, not an exact date. If you are very consistent in your usage, they can turn down your safety margins which saves battery life. If your heart needs very little juice to get it to beat, they can turn down the voltage. There are many things they can do to optimize battery life. If it says 5 years you can trust that, assuming all things stay the same, that you probably have approx 5 years left.

engineering data

by albie - 2013-12-17 08:12:36

The engineering data on the device with optimum voltage and impedance gives a maximum life of 11 years. I'm just wondering if others have made it several years past this while 100 % paced.

thanks

by albie - 2013-12-17 08:12:45

thanks TracyE. My current EP isn't as hands on as the one I had with my last device and just blows in and looks at the data and blows out. A rep from another company actually checks my device. no one has made setting changes in several years. my last EP was good about analyzing the data.

Best guess

by Theknotguy - 2013-12-17 08:12:48

Remember the medical implement people give conservative estimates on battery life. Apparently you got one of the good ones that lasted a long time.

There are some other people on this site who have been give estimates of 15 years. So it's not out of line to get that good of a report.

Others on this site have said as the battery wears down you'll get plenty of warning. It won't just work one day and stop the next.

Hope everything continues to go well for you.

Theknotguy

Battery life

by golden_snitch - 2013-12-18 02:12:52

Hi!

More important than the pacing percentage is the voltage at which you pace = the output needed to stimulate your heart effectively. If you have low thresholds and therefore pace at a low amplitude, you can end up with a really long battery life, even when you are paced for instance 100% in the ventricles.

I am paced 100% in the atria and ventricles, so among the members here I should be one whose battery depletes real fast, if you consider the pacing percentage only. But it doesn't. In fact, my battery life has not changed at all since I'm being paced 100% in my ventricles, too; at first I was only paced 100% in the atria. In the end I'll most likely get out 10 years of my battery.

In addition to pacing percentage and voltage, there are also differences between batteries. Some manufacturers even offer the same pacemaker model in different variations: one model is estimated at 8-9 years battery life, the other just at 5-7. My first Medtronic was in for six years, and showed 5 more years of battery life, but then I needed an upgrade to a dual-chamber system, so it was replaced. And like I said, my Sorin is still showing 5 years, after 5 years of pacing already, with 100% atrial and ventricular stimulation. Your Guidant seems to have a good battery, too, and combined with a low output voltage, 13 years doesn't seem impossible to me.

Best

Inga

Battery Life

by gleesue - 2013-12-18 10:12:43

Battery life is a little strange. I'm only paced about 30% of the time but every time I've gone in for a check up instead of my remaining life going down it has gone up. Got about 11.5 years left. If this keeps happening it may never run out.

Jerry

You know you're wired when...

You trust technology more than your heart.

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