Help me choose the right one !

Hello , I am having a Defibrillator surgery on 6/18/2013 , What in your opinion is the best brand to choose ? Its model number etc. It's proven reliability etc. You opinions are important to me !

Thank you ! Paul

5 Comments

choosing

by Tracey_E - 2013-06-11 03:06:27

All of them will do the job, all of them have good reliability. The best one is the one your dr knows and trusts best. In the US the big 3 are Medtronic, St Judes and Boston Scientific. I'd probably go with the first two over BS simply because they're bigger and more likely to have a rep handy if I'm out of town and run into a problem.

My dr has a great relationship with a St Judes rep so St Judes is best for me, and I let the two of them choose the model. They know the ins and outs better than I ever will so I trust them to choose what is best for me. We considered changing to Medtronics last time (I'm on #4 now) because they had a model that has a pacing feature that may have been beneficial, but I love my SJM rep and didn't want to start over with a new rep so when given the choice I opted to stay with SJM. I don't even know what model I have, would have to look at the paperwork! I stopped paying attention after the second one. It works, I feel great, the rest is just details.

Find an ep you trust, then let him/her choose. Most of them don't ask what we want anyway, this isn't considered a decision a layperson should make. All drs seem to have a preference, imo their preference is more the people they deal with from the company than the devises themselves.

Boston Scientific

by Hope - 2013-06-11 09:06:27

I was admitted to the hospital on a Friday night recently due to a stroke. Bright and early Saturday morning a highly knowledgeable Boston Scientific representative was in my room taking care of me and answering all of my questions. Size does not necessarily dictate response or quality of care. Hopeful Heart

size

by Tracey_E - 2013-06-11 11:06:46

Hope, you can get great service from a small company, absolutely. The problem is if the person local isn't good and the next closest person is hours away. I know someone that happened to. The closest BS rep couldn't get her feeling good and eventually wrote her off. They had no other reps unless she drove 4 hours to a large city. She switched to Medtronic and now she's doing well. I'm not saying BS isn't a good company, but if you live in a rural area or travel a lot, you could run in to problems because they don't have a large army of good reps.

Glad to hear you got a good one! I really think a great mfr rep is worth their weight in gold and those of us with fantastic ones are very fortunate.

size

by Hope - 2013-06-12 01:06:26

There seems to be horror stories of various issues with rep competence, response, availability, etc. with all the companies if you start checking around. There are many things at stake with our devices and care, not just the size of the company. Our location can effect our health in many ways, as with your friend.

HI

by relax221 - 2013-06-13 10:06:54

I'M WORKING ON MY 3RD PACEMAKER...ST JUDES PACEMEKER OR CRT

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