In March 2005, the first
pacemaker from among a new
generation of devices manufactured
by the American company
Medtronic (the world’s
leading manufacturer) was
implanted in Spain at the
Benidorm Clinic Hospital,
reflecting the know-how
of the last 10 years in
cardiac stimulation. Apart
from preventing the symptoms
that a slow pulse causes
(dizziness, loss of consciousness,
fatigue), this pacemaker
introduces 3 types of principal
benefits:
| 1- |
Algorithms against
auricular tachycardia.
In some patients,
a slow pulse rate
coexists with rapid
arrhythmias;
these can be treated
and prevented automatically
by the pacemaker,
improving these
patients’
quality of life.
|
| 2- |
It prevents unnecessary
cardiac stimulation.
It has been demonstrated
that, although pacemakers
may correct slow pulse
rate, in some patients,
they may cause the
development of cardiac
insufficiency if the
ventricles are stimulated
very frequently. For
this reason, this
pacemaker has an ingenious
system that tries
to prevent this inconvenience
to a maximum. |
| 3- |
Storage of the information regarding
detected arrhythmias.
|
The pacemaker stores
the arrhythmia electrocardiograms
suffered by the patient
so as to help orient the
physician’s diagnoses.
As has always happened,
all these advances imply
a complex device that
demands specialisation,
and only specially dedicated
cardiologists are adequately
qualified to decide its
implantation, perform
it and monitor these patients,
taking advantage of the
features that these devices
offer.
|
