A game-changing wireless pacemaker that reduces the risk of painful complications is being offered to patients on the NHS.
Traditional pacemakers use wires and a generator under the skin to keep the heart beating regularly, but the device can short-circuit and the generator become infected – with patients having to undergo complex surgery to replace it.
Now the innovative AVEIR DR has been hailed as a world first, with a global trial – published in the New England Medical journal last year – finding it has a 97 per cent success rate in returning a patient’s heart beat to normal.
However the main benefit of the device is that it completely eliminates side effects such as infection and pocket haematoma.
‘Complications such as infection are commonplace with normal pacemakers. That is why this is so exciting,’ says Professor Tom Wong, who carried out the first procedure.
‘This is a major feat of engineering, where the risk is low and the device is highly effective.’
A 2017 study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that one in six patients with a traditional pacemaker suffer complications within three years.
The new pacemaker is made up of two pill-like devices, each the size of an AAA battery. These are implanted directly into the heart through a leg vein, rather than through the shoulder as with traditional devices, which speeds up recovery time.
The ‘pills’ sit in two chambers of the heart – the right atrium and right ventricle – and communicate with each other while emitting electrical impulses to regulate the pulse.
Single wireless implants of this kind have been offered before, however most heart problems affect both the chambers, meaning a limited number of patients were eligible. The dual device opens up the possibility of effective treatment for far more of the two million people in the UK with heart rhythm problems.
Earlier this month Mohamed Benkahoul, 56, became the first person in the country to receive the device outside of trial.
The father of two from London, who has end-stage kidney disease and heart failure, became eligible after his regular pacemaker became infected and failed two years ago.
Without a functioning pacemaker he suffered debilitating problems linked to his poor heart including swelling of the limbs, breathlessness and weight gain.
It is hoped the device will allow him to become active again and lose enough weight to become eligible for a kidney transplant.
‘I was so happy to be the first person to get this pacemaker,’ says Mohamed. ‘It is already helping me in everyday life, I can go out and socialise again.
‘The doctors have also told me that I can now have full dialysis treatment that my heart was not able to handle before.’
The pacemaker’s availability on the NHS follows a successful roll out in America and the EU.
Over the coming months the device will be administered across specialist hospitals including St Thomas’ Hospital in London and Basildon University Hospital in Essex. It will first be available to high-risk patients whose traditional pacemakers have failed.
‘This is a life changing device and down the line it may be commonplace for everyone but there is still a lot of research to be done on the long term effects,’ says
Professor Wong. ‘It is still in its early stages.’
