A new pacemaker, free from wires and offering fewer complications, was launched in Calcutta and implanted in patients for the first time in the city on Wednesday.
The leadless dual-chamber pacemaker is a one-piece device inserted into the heart to prevent a slow heart rate. The new device reduces risks of infection and promises shorter hospital stays.
“All the parts of a leadless pacemaker are inside one device. There’s no separate battery. And it doesn’t need leads (wires) because the whole device sits in your heart’s right ventricle (heart chamber),” said the Cleveland Clinic.
According to medical experts, a leadless pacemaker can sense the heart’s electrical signals and provide additional electrical impulses when required.
“In conventional pacemakers with leads, complications like infection, breakage, displacement and perforation are reported in 3-4% cases over a period of 10 years. Often, this can cause serious conditions and the pacemaker has to be extracted,” said Debdatta Bhattacharyya, consultant cardiologist at RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences.
Two patients, aged 77 and 84, had the leadless pacemakers implanted at the hospital on Wednesday.
In 2023, trials of the dual-chamber leadless pacemaker were conducted in the US and Europe. It was introduced in India this week.
“Pacemakers with leads have two wires from the device, which is implanted below the collarbone. The wires connect to two chambers, the right atrium and the right ventricle,” Bhattacharyya explained.
The battery life of a conventional pacemaker is 10 years on average. “The leadless pacemakers have longer battery life: between 15 and 20 years. So, for an elderly patient, it can last lifelong,” said Bhattacharyya.
Leadless pacemakers can have complications such as displacement and perforation, but these are expected to be less common, he said.
“The leadless device, approximately the size of a vitamin capsule, is implanted directly into the heart through a thin catheter inserted via a vein, eliminating the need for chest incisions,” said Anil Mishra, director of cardiology, BM Birla Heart Hospital. The hospital also started implanting leadless pacemakers on Wednesday.
The new device is significantly more expensive than conventional pacemakers. While a dual-chamber pacemaker with leads costs around ₹2.5 lakh, the leadless version is priced at around ₹16 lakh.
“We expect prices to drop as more manufacturers enter the market,” said Bhattacharyya.