CRT pacemaker history

I am waiting for an Av node ablation and CRT pacemaker for heart failure and A-fib. It was scheduled for 29 October, cancelled an hour before surgery time. It's been a huge jolt to me emotionally and physically but I am getting counselling which is giving me help/courage to return to the hospital on 10 Dec. I was told that I will be getting a Medtronic device, hope they have not given it away or lost it! Trying to use a little humour to help with the stress of all this.
Anyway, I have some questions about CRT pacemakers that I can't seem to find on the web and hoped that someone may know the answers.
Where and when were they invented and first used?
How long do they last before battery needs to be replaced? Does it depend on the activity level of the user?
How many are implanted each year? By country or worldwide. There must be some stats somewhere.
I guess I am curious about the past history/development of these machines. There seems to be lots of info about how they work but not their past history etc.
I am hoping that someone has some info for me.
Thanking you in advance for your help.
A

7 Comments

CRT

by Bas - 2013-12-01 02:12:04

Hi Ann53!
Have you looked at this website? http://www.medtronic.com/patients/heart-failure/device/what-is-it/
As you can tell by the web name Medtronic are the company who makes them!
I have a pacemaker which has a life of 7-10 years depending whether it is pacing or not! Medtronics will give you information on your implant, as well ask your doctor....you are entitled to know exactly what is being planned for you.
worldwide stats: http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/105/18/2136.full
History of the pacemaker: http://electronicdesign.com/components/short-history-pacemaker
Hope this helps you!
Bas

How long for Pacemakers

by Marie12 - 2013-12-01 06:12:15

My grandfather received on of the first pacemakers in Eastern Canada (back in the mid 1960's). He had to travel to Montreal to get it and it cost about 25,000 at the time. It was MASSIVE. Great big square box that protruded out of chest about 3/4 inch on all sides.

Replacement does depend on usage. My ICD is 4 to 7 years. You do understand that at replacement you get a whole new unit. They don't just change the battery.

How many implanted??? When you see how many manufacturers there are of these types of devices I'd say alot more than we can possibly realize. There are hundreds of people just on this site.

Keep up the counselling after the implant. Good luck in your procedure.

Hi Anne

by IAN MC - 2013-12-01 09:12:20

CRT pacemakers ( which pace both sides of the heart) are relatively recent and apparently were first given a licence in 2001. Their usage has been curtailed somewhat because they are very expensive and there was a lack of data proving that they save lives , this is changing as more positive data is being published.

Not relevant to your question, but I read this week that here in the UK, (and we are a very small island) , PMs are being fitted at the rate of 50,000 p.a. There must be 3 or 4 million now worldwide ; we are not in as select a club as many people imagine !

Ian

Hey Anne

by Theknotguy - 2013-12-01 11:12:12

Keep hanging in there!

I got my Medtronics PM on 8-Oct-2013. I also have a history of a-fib. In fact it was the a-fib that killed me. Doctors call it an "undefined" event but they think my heart went into a wild a-fib session. Heart rate was 20 when the EMT's got to me and my heart stopped in the ambulance. They had a hard time getting it started in the ER. Woke up six days later with my PM.

You may notice some strange stuff. First was when the PM kicked in. My heart wanted to do the same old thing but the PM won't let it do that. So I'd get the reminder my heart couldn't do the same old thing. Not a jolt, just a tap on the heart to remind it to keep in rhythm. Strange at first but now that my heart is in rhythm I don't notice the PM is there. (10 weeks)

If the hospital is slow that's good. You don't want to go into the hospital in an emergency. It's a good way to wake up dead. So if they're taking their time it means it's not a crisis for you. Drives you crazy but just keep reminding yourself it's not a crisis and you're better off. But you might want to tap the doctor on the shoulder and say, "Hey! Remember me?"

Sympathetic pain.

I've got a spot on my back that's sore. The PM is in the upper front left, right under to collar bone. The sore spot in my back is almost directly behind the PM. But it's sympathetic pain. Not bad, just annoying. A cold compress and a rub on the sore spot really helps.

After the PM implantation I felt pain in my left lower jaw. I attribute it to where the leads were put into the vein going into the heart. You usually don't have anything in that area that causes feelings so when your body discovers something is there you can get sympathetic pain elsewhere. Not bad, just annoying. You may notice other stuff. Check with the people on this forum they give a lot of good advice.

Good feelings:

I'm having trouble getting used to a consistent, good heart beat. Funny I know, but after years of not having it, it's strange to feel it.

I'm warm again. Also strange. After years of always being cold it's nice to be the person who turns down the thermostat.

Even though I'm still my daft self, it's nice to have the brain start working again. I was having trouble remembering some things. Now, with the PM, I can pull back some of the memories more quickly. Didn't know things were getting that cloudy. Funny what the heart does to the rest of the body.

Work with support groups.

I don't have good statistics but supposedly 80% of people with PM's get depression of some kind and as some time. Not necessarily permanent depression. So find support groups that will help you. As I said before, this forum is a good place for help. See if your hospital has a support group. There are also ones that can be found on the Internet. I belong to the SCA (Sudden Cardiac Arrest) group. I qualify now.

Psychologists are good if your health insurance will help pay for one. I personally get a lot of good from therapy dogs. You can't beat a cold nose and a warm heart.

Start doing things to help keep yourself positive. After you get your PM start exercising to help yourself feel better. But don't exercise to exhaustion. Surprisingly drinking water helps too. I've heard several people on this forum mention that. Keep thinking up. What's past is past, start looking forward.

Hang in there. It gets better!

Theknotguy

jaw pain

by Marie12 - 2013-12-01 12:12:53

Theknotguy mentioned jaw pain. I was told by my quack doctor that jaw pain is from your body trying to reject a foreign object. He also told me it could be permanent but like everything else he said, he was wrong. Mine only lasted about three months.

I like Theknotguy's reasoning better.

CRT - my history

by philip.thecyclist - 2013-12-02 08:12:15

Hello Anne

Your questions on CRT history and battery life seem to have been answered, but I thought you might get some encouragement from my recent CRT history. I have had AV nodal ablation for a-fib, and developed heart failure over a period of years. Like you, my initial procedure to replace my old PM with a CRT device in January was rescheduled at short notice, and I had to wait until May. It was worth the wait, as I felt the benefit immediately. The delay was because the particular type I needed, from Boston Scientific, was not granted EU approval until April. I had looked at the summaries of research on CRT-PMs, and most recipients are reported to benefit from greater excercise tolerance. Being a cyclist, I can confirm that.

BTW, the first of my 3 PMs, a Medtronic, went for 10 years before needing replacement. There may be more current drain with CRT PMs, but I think that may not be too significant

Keep the humour flowing - it helps if the surgeons and cardios are happy too!

Philip, London.

crt and av node ablation

by skaggsoak - 2014-08-02 04:08:30

I'm soon to have an av node ablation and acrt implant how long surgery is this. How long in hospital. Is it very noticeable that it's beating for you. Are you eligible for heart list.

You know you're wired when...

Your favorite poem is “Ode to a Cardiac Node”.

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