subject: Living With a Pacemaker or Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator [print this page] Living With a Pacemaker or Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator
What is Pacemaker ?
A pacemaker is a small device that is implanted under the skin (most often in the shoulder area just under the collarbone) it ends electrical signals to start or regulate slow heartbeat. Some are permanent (internal) and some are temporary (external).They can replace a defective natural pacemaker or blocked pathway.
Pacemakers can be surgically placed into the chest (a permanent pacemaker) through a small incision, or they can be worn outside the body (a temporary pacemaker) and attached to the heart through a wire that is threaded through a neck vein. Temporary pacemakers are used only while a person is in the hospital.
A temporary pacemaker is an "artificial" pacemaker that takes the place of or overrides a faulty SA node. The device is inserted by threading a lead or wire through a vein into the right ventricle of the patient's heart. At the other end, outside of the patient's body, the wire is attached to a power source which stimulates the heart to contract.
Temporary pacemakers are often used in emergency situations to keep a person's heart beat stable until a permanent pacemaker can be inserted. It also may be used after a heart attack to keep the heart rhythm normal until the extent of tissue damage can be established. Patients on temporary pacemakers require constant monitoring.
Types of pacemakers
There are several kinds of permanent pacemakers, each designed to meet a different need. They include : -
* Demand pacemakers, which monitor the heart rate and discharge electricity only when the heart rate falls below a > programmed minimum or misses a beat.
* Fixed-rate pacemakers, which discharge a steady stream of electrical impulses, regardless of the underlying heart rate.
* Rate-responsive pacemakers, which monitor various physical changes in the body (e.g., respiration, physical activity) and change the rate of discharge accordingly.
There are two basic types of pacemakers : -
* Single-chamber pacemakers stimulate one chamber of the heart, either an atrium or more often a ventricle.
* Dual-chamber pacemakers send electrical impulses to both the atrium and the ventricle and pace both chambers. A dual-chamber pacemaker synchronizes the rhythm of the atria and ventricles in a pattern that closely resembles the natural heartbeat. Dual-chamber pacemakers are usually used to treat a slow heart rate.
Who Needs Pacemaker ?
Doctor recommends pacemakers to patients for a number of reasons. The most common reason is when a patient's heart is beating too slowly or there are long pauses between heart beats.
A pacemaker may be helpful : -
1. A pacemaker is used when the heart beats to slowly (bradycardia) or has other abnormalrythmias (arrhythmias).In some cases pacemakers are also used to treat the symptoms of heart failure.
2. The electrical signals between your hearts upper and lower chambers are partially or completely blocked or slowed down (this is called heart block). Aging damage to the heart from a heart attack or other heart condition can prevent electrical signals from reaching all the hearts chambers
3. You have had a medical procedure to treat arrhythmias called Atrial fibrillation. A pacemaker can help regulate your heart beat after the procedure.
4. You have heart muscles problems that cause electrical signals to travel through your heart muscles too slow(your pacemaker will provide cardiac resynchronization therapy for this problem)
5. Aging or heart disease damages your sinus nodes ability t set the correct pace for your heartbeat. Such damage can make your heart beat too slow or it can cause long pauses between heart beats. The damage also can cause your heart rhythm to alternate between slow and fast.
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