PM brand - is there a "BEST" one?

I know that the Dr. I choose will help me with this decison -but I would like to hear some feedback from those of you that already have your PM's...I think I remember that there are 3-4 major brands - St Jude's, Medtronic, & Boston Scientific...maybe another? I know St Jude's -in general - has an outstanding reputation - but I'm not familiar with the others.
And do they all have the ability to download information remotely back to the PM clinic?
Thank you for taking time to share...

4 Comments

Best One

by Good Dog - 2014-12-31 07:12:20

Hello again!
I have a Medtronic.......so I am biased! After all, they are the worlds largest manufacturer of medical devices!

Same and different

by Theknotguy - 2014-12-31 08:12:51

Quite a few different brands. All are pretty much the same, all are different. My EP does about 33% of Boston Scientific, Medtronic, and St. Jude. If there is a problem with a particular model, he's limited the number of patients who will have the problem. I don't know if there is any PM that is "better" than others. I feel most of us become attached (pun intended) to our PM's and are reluctant to change manufacturer without having a good reason. I know I'll be very reluctant to go with anything other than Medtronic - which is what I have.

Different PM's have different software programming. The software programming gets pretty complex. Some are better for more active, athletic people with faster response times to athletic movement. I have afib and some Medtronic models have programming for afib. I'm not sure about Boston Scientific or St. Jude although I'm sure they have their positive points.

Question for your EP prior to implanting are: 1) what will best fit your heart problems, 2) what will best fit your life style.

The type of heart problems you have plus the programming on the PM that will best fit your situation determines the brand of PM you should receive. So while we may recommend Medtronic, St. Jude or Boston Scientific may fit you better. It depends upon your situation and what your EP decides.

There have been comments on this forum (especially from bikers) that some PM's don't respond well when there isn't as much movement in the torso area of the body. Some tweaking can be done on the PM's to adjust to your life style - i.e. Rate Response for example. In my case I had software for afib turned on at the fifth month.

I've run into situation where I've had chronotropic incompetence with my PM. That's where you start to exercise, the PM doesn't sense the need for a faster heartbeat, so you end up short of breath and dizzy. You need to slow down your exercise until the heart rate comes up to speed. This can be caused by the PM itself and it can also be caused by a combination of medications and lack of response from your PM. Since most of my activity is slower, I don't run into it very often but am aware it can happen.

For example I had to move 30 bar stools today weighing 26 pounds each. We converted them into dining chairs which meant I had to lift them onto pallets, lift them onto the table saw, lift them onto work tables, and finally lift and stack on pallets again. I ended up lifting over 3000 pounds of weight. My PM kept up with all the lifting and moving. So I'm really pleased with the support my PM gives me.

Hope this gives you some insight into different kinds of PM's and what they can do.

Depends...

by golden_snitch - 2015-01-01 03:01:41

... on what you need. With a third degree heart block, you don't have to worry about rate response sensors and other fancy stuff, the pacer is an easy fix for your condition. All you need, if you exercise much, is a high upper tracking rate. Medtronic's Adapta can be programmed up to 220bpm for instance, many other devices are limited to 180.

Inga

Medtronic

by lisabfit - 2015-01-10 12:01:20

Hi there -
Those of you with the Medtronic PM- do you have the remote capability of downloading your PM info to the pacing clinic? Some sort of box on your bedside table?

And also - Medtronic makes the ONLY one that is MRI safe? My Dr did explain that you still can't get a thoracic MRI even with the Medtronic...

Just trying to find out which PM is MRI safe AND has the downloading capability to get info to the pacing clinic on a regular basis..

Inga- is the Adapta model MRI safe & does it have the downloading capability?

Thank you!

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