A tiny pacemaker with a battery that lasts for 20 years is being rolled out to NHS heart patients, with a 76-year-old man among the first to get the device.
The Aveir VR leadless pacemaker is just 3.8cm long, one tenth of the size of standard older pacemakers, and has batteries that last for twice as long.
The device is implanted directly into patients’ hearts to correct slow heart rhythms, or bradycardia, which affects 1.5 million people in the UK. The condition can cause symptoms including dizziness, fatigue, fainting and also increases the risk of strokes.
Because the pacemaker is so small, surgeons can fit the devices in just 30 minutes, via a minimally invasive procedure that guides the pacemaker through the blood vessels onto the heart. NHS hospitals started using the Aveir pacemakers this month, with Graham Motteram, 76, among the first to benefit.
Motteram, from Romsey, Hampshire, was fitted with the device by heart experts at University Hospital Southampton (UHS), ten days after being diagnosed with bradycardia.
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A routine check-up for diabetes showed he had high blood pressure, and a scan revealed revealing he had a heart problem; the pensioner was then identified as being suitable for the new device.
Motteram said: “I stayed in hospital for a further two days before being discharged. It’s been six days since my procedure and I feel better than I have in months. I feel very lucky to be the first patient in Southampton to be fitted with this new device, and I’m so grateful to Professor Roberts and the team – they have surely saved my life and looked after me so well before and after the procedure. I hope many more patients can benefit from this in the future.”
The pacemaker uses innovative technology to map the interior wall of the heart before being fixed into place, reducing the chance of doctors needing to reposition it — which can damage tissue. Once in place in the right ventricle, it monitors every heartbeat to sense whether the heart is beating too slow or fast, and delivers electrical pulses to correct it.
Professor Paul Roberts, who led the surgery, said: “The Aveir ventricular leadless pacemaker represents a significant advancement in patient care with leadless pacemaker technology. The battery life of this device has the potential to last for more than 20 years in some patients. Furthermore, it is anticipated in the near future we will be able to implant a second device in the top chamber of the heart [atrium] in selected patients, which means that a larger group of patients may benefit from this technology.”
