Lankenau Medical Center, Part of Main Line Health, First in the Region to Implant World’s Smallest Pacemaker
Miniaturized Heart Device Provides Patients with the Most Advanced Pacing Technology Available
(Wynnewood, PA September 27, 2016) – Following successful participation in a year-long clinical trial, Lankenau Medical Center, part of Main Line Health’s Lankenau Heart Institute, announced that it is one of the first hospitals in Pennsylvania to offer the world’s smallest pacemaker for patients. Recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Micra® Transcatheter Pacing System (TPS) — comparable in size to a large vitamin — is a new type of heart device that provides patients with the most advanced pacing technology at one-tenth the size of a traditional pacemaker. Micra is the only leadless pacemaker approved for use in the U.S. The first procedure was performed by Doug Esberg, MD, at Lankenau Medical Center as part of the clinical trial in 2015. It is now offered as part of the standard of care for patients with bradycardia at Lankenau Medical Center and will soon expand to other Lankenau Heart Institute sites across Main Line Health.
Bradycardia is a condition characterized by a slow or irregular heart rhythm, resulting in the heart being unable to pump enough oxygen-rich blood to the body during normal activity or exercise, causing dizziness, fatigue, shortness of breath or fainting spells. Pacemakers are the most common way to treat bradycardia to help increase the heart’s rate by sending electrical impulses to the heart and relieve symptoms.
The care team at Lankenau Heart Institute has elected to use the Medtronic Micra TPS because, unlike traditional pacemakers, the device does not require cardiac wires (leads) or a surgical “pocket” under the skin to deliver a pacing therapy. Instead, the device is small enough to be delivered through a catheter and implanted directly into the heart with small tines, providing a safe alternative to conventional pacemakers without the complications associated with leads – all while being cosmetically invisible. The Micra TPS is also designed to automatically adjust pacing therapy based on a patient’s activity levels.
“This miniaturized technology is designed to provide patients with the advanced pacing technology of traditional pacemakers via a minimally invasive approach,” said Dr. Doug Esberg, Program Director, Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology Fellowship for the Lankenau Heart Institute. “Lankenau was a part of a select group of institutions to take part in this clinical trial, and after successfully demonstrating its effectiveness, we are excited to be leading the way in improving the standard of care to benefit the more than one million people globally who receive pacemakers each year.”
The Micra TPS also incorporates a feature to enable retrieval of the device when possible; however, the device is designed to be left in the body. For patients who need more than one heart device, the miniaturized Micra TPS was designed with the ability to be permanently turned off so it can remain in the body and a new device can be implanted without risk of electrical interaction.
The Micra TPS is the first and only transcatheter pacing system to be approved for both 1.5 and 3 Tesla (T) full-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, providing patients with access to the most advanced imaging diagnostic procedures available, if and when they need one.
Photos: Photo 1: The Micra® Transcatheter Pacing System (TPS), the world’s smallest pacemaker. Photo 2: The Micra TPS vs. a traditional pacemaker. Images courtesy of Medtronic.
About Lankenau Heart Institute
The Lankenau Heart Institute is Main Line Health System’s premier, comprehensive cardiovascular medicine and surgery program. The Lankenau Heart Institute brings together the clinical expertise of all four Main Line Health acute care Hospitals and community cardiology practices to ensure that patients receive a level of quality, service, and experience that is unprecedented in the region. Through the System-wide coordination of services, the Lankenau Heart Institute delivers preventive, diagnostic, therapeutic, and rehabilitative cardiovascular services at each of our locations including Lankenau Medical Center, Bryn Mawr Hospital, Paoli Hospital and Riddle Hospital.
With a collaborative team of expert consultative cardiologists, interventional cardiologists, electrophysiologists, cardiovascular surgeons and specially trained nurses and technologists, the Lankenau Heart Institute is dedicated to managing and treating patients with heart failure, aortic disease, coronary and peripheral vascular disease, heart rhythm disorders and valve disease. Our team of cardiologists and cardiac specialists provide patients and their families with expert cardiac care, close to home. To learn more, visit mainlinehealth.org/heart.
About Main Line Health
Founded in 1985, Main Line Health (MLH) is a not-for-profit health system serving portions of Philadelphia and its western suburbs. At its core are four of the region’s respected acute care hospitals—Lankenau Medical Center, Bryn Mawr Hospital, Paoli Hospital and Riddle Hospital—as well as one of the nation’s premier facilities for rehabilitative medicine, Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital; Mirmont Treatment Center for drug and alcohol recovery; and Main Line Health HomeCare & Hospice, a home health service. Main Line Health also consists of Main Line HealthCare, one of the region’s largest multi-specialty physician networks, and the Lankenau Institute for Medical Research, a non-profit biomedical research organization located on the campus of Lankenau Medical Center. Main Line Health is also comprised of four outpatient health centers located in Broomall, Collegeville, Exton and Newtown Square.
Main Line Health Hospitals, with more than 10,000 employees and 2,000 physicians, are the recipients of numerous awards for quality care and service, including System Magnet® designation, the nation’s highest distinction for nursing excellence, and being named among the nation’s best employers by Forbes magazine. Main Line Health is among the area’s leaders in medicine, providing advanced patient-centered care, education and research to help our community stay healthy. To learn more, visit mainlinehealth.org.
###
