Pacemaker: For a sure sense of tact

In pacemaker surgery, we offer our patients tailor-made therapeutic procedures. These include the use of special pacemaker and defibrillator systems

Event recorder

If you have cardiac arrhythmia, there is usually no ECG nearby, and when you arrive at the doctor's, it is often all over again. Then it can be useful to implant an event recorder that detects and stores cardiac arrhythmias so that you can analyze your heart rhythm afterwards. It is usually inserted to the left of the sternum and is only as big as a small USB stick. The battery lasts about 3 years.

Pacemaker

Too slow a heartbeat or pauses of several seconds lead to dizziness or even unconsciousness. The ability to cope with pressure is often limited and shortness of breath occurs. The pacemaker then stimulates the heart to work with an electrical impulse and thus ensures a sufficient pulse rate, pauses are prevented. If the heart is fast enough on its own, the pacemaker holds back.  It is implanted through an approximately 4 cm  skin incision below the collarbone. It is connected to the heart with one or two cables that are led through the bloodstream to the right ventricle and usually also to the right atrium. Once it has healed, it is usually barely noticeable and a normal life can be lived again.

Defibrillator

Congenital or acquired heart diseases, such as heart attacks or myocarditis, are often accompanied by an increased risk of life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias or have already occurred. Especially if the heart function is already significantly restricted, protection by a defibrillator is necessary. The defibrillator can terminate a threatening arrhythmia with targeted electrical impulses or, if there is an immediate danger to life, with an electric shock (defibrillation). If necessary, it also takes over the functions of a pacemaker and is also used like a pacemaker, but the device is considerably bigger.

Caridac resynchronization therapy

Heart failure is often aggravated or even caused in the first place by an electrical conduction disturbance, the so-called left bundle branch block. The heart muscle cells do not work synchronously, the right and left ventricle no longer beat simultaneously. The heart then wastes power with every beat, similar to a defective heart valve. This leads to a progressive cardiac insufficiency, which becomes noticeable with decreasing resilience. A special pacemaker with 3 cables, which in contrast to the "normal" pacemaker stimulates both heart chambers, allows the heart to beat synchronously again and the resilience usually improves immediately.

Our clinic is particularly specialised in the use of pacemakers and defibrillators and works closely together with our resident colleagues and referring hospitals.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at any time.