Identity ADx XL DR 5386

Hello everyone,

I have St. Jude ADx XL DR 5386. I am due for replacement in a year or two. I am curious to know if there is any newer model similar type PM, from St. Jude?

5 Comments

more info

by somat - 2013-02-05 06:02:48

I was reading thru St. Jude website, and trying to understand some difficult medical terms, and as per my knowledge, Identity & Verity are the only PMs with bradycardia features. And only difference between Identity & Verity is the battery life (size obviously). Now I know, bradycardia, that is why my doc implanted this one. I am still not clear on ADx though. And I believe, DR is the dual chamber. XL is the long battery model. Correct me if my understanding is wrong.

Thanks.

there's always a new one!

by Tracey_E - 2013-02-05 09:02:29

Bradycardia is simply a low heart rate, it's more a symptom than a condition. All pm's will fix brady. Some are better for sinus dysfunction (primarily atrial pacing), some are better for av block (primarily ventricular pacing) but any of them will work, it's just fine nuances between them.

I paid attention to my first one, knew the whole model name. I asked what I was getting the second time but have no idea now what it was. Third and fourth? I never bothered to ask! I know it's St Judes :) When offered a Medtronic (it has a minor feature that may have helped me when working out),I made the choice to stick with St Judes because my rep is amazing, didn't want to start over with a new Medtronic rep. Beyond that, I let my dr and rep make the choice. My dr knows me by now, he knows my history and my needs so I trust him to pick the best one for me since he understands the technical terms better than I do.

If you are a year or two from a new one, odds are excellent the one you'll end up with hasn't been released yet.

dual chamber

by Tracey_E - 2013-02-05 09:02:46

Most of them are dual chamber, not many drs in the US do a single chamber.

battery life

by Tracey_E - 2013-02-06 10:02:01

7-8 years is average, sounds like that's what you're getting out of this one? They have some with larger batteries that can last longer, ask your dr about it but they will probably be bigger. Replacements are super easy! If the first surgery was a 10, replacements are a 2-3, imo, so a year or two one way or the other is no big deal in the long run.

thanks Tracey

by somat - 2013-02-06 12:02:13

Thanks for the reply Tracey.. I have a low heart rate, and I am paced 100%. I think that's why my doc chose this pm. I asked my doc about the pm before implant, but then it sounaded too technical for me. I never paid attention to the details, until now. Since I am due for a new one in couple of years, I am looking around to see if there are any pm's with better battery life than the one I have. But St. Jude website shows the same list of products that they were showing back in 2007. Hopefully they will release something soon...

You know you're wired when...

You have rhythm.

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