The Princess Grace Hospital (CHPG) is Selected as an Expert Centre for Implanting the World's Smallest Pacemakers

The Cardiology Department, headed by Professor Saudi, has been selected as an Expert Centre for implanting the new mini pacemakers, which are currently the smallest in the world.  Thus, since the beginning of April, three patients of Dr. Sithikun Bun and Dr. Gabriel Latcu have benefitted from this new device, which marks the beginning of a new era in cardiac stimulators.

Until now, pacemakers consisted of a metal box, placed under the skin, and one or two leads connected to the heart.

With no leads, and ten times smaller than a normal pacemaker (the size of a pharmaceutical capsule), the new pacemaker is more discrete, needs no incision and reduces the risk of infection.

Professor Saudi's team is the first in the Alpes Maritimes to have been selected by the manufacturer to implant these revolutionary new devices for patients with this heart condition.

What is a pacemaker?

Invented in the late 1950s, the pacemaker, or cardiac stimulator, is a cardiac stimulation system that was designed to treat an abnormally slow heartbeat.  It is comprised of a metal box, to which one or several pacing leads are attached, and a programmer.

Two elements are placed inside the body – the pacemaker and the pacing lead(s).

• The pacemaker is a small metal box that contains electronic circuits and a battery.  It monitors the heart constantly and delivers an electrical pulse to stimulate the heart when the heart rate is interrupted, irregular or too slow.
• The pacing lead is an insulated wire that makes it possible to monitor the activity of the heart and send faint electrical pulses from the pacemaker to the heart to regularise the cardiac rhythm when necessary.

The new pacemaker

The miniature pacemaker is placed directly in the right ventricle of the heart via a specific catheter;  this procedure is therefore only minimally invasive.  This device does not require a lead or a guide.  Because it is miniaturised, patients no longer have a lump or a scar on their chest.  The device is completely autonomous in the heart and provides the treatment required with no visible reminder of the presence of a medical device.

For reference

• Every year, approximately 30,000 patients in France need to have a pacemaker implanted

Contact:

Elisa Laroche

Press Officer

Princess Grace Hospital

+377 97 98 95 45

communication@chpg.mc