IJN scores another first in implanting pacemaker

KUALA LUMPUR: A medical team from the National Heart Institute (IJN) has successfully installed a dual chamber pacemaker on a pregnant woman without exposing her to radiation.

The insertion of the device was done with a non- fluoroscopic imaging technique, the first in the country, said IJN interventional electrophysiology and implantable devices clinical director Dr Azlan Hussin.

Dr Azlan said the 30-year-old housewife from Perak suffered a slow heartbeat known as arrhythmia or abnormal heartbeat which was only discovered late in her second trimester.

She is currently six months’ pregnant with her first child, he said, without disclosing the patient’s name.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Dr Azlan said the device was placed in the chest to help control her abnormal heart rhythms to mitigate complications during the pregnancy and delivery.

“We used a magnetic system to create the outline of the heart by magnetic positioning and repositioning the lead or wire for the pacemaker, also known as Ensite- NavX system.

“There is no radiation involved unlike the normal procedure to implant the device during the surgery,” he said.

He explained that the virtual image was created by interfacing within the wires of the system that were being placed into the vein through the feet, and connected to a machine to monitor the image.

Describing the new method as creative and safe, he said it needed a lot of work and “imagination” to bypass the fluoroscopy technique.

Noting that the patient felt more energetic and happy with her health progress after the installing of the pacemaker last Monday, Dr Azlan said that he himself was still “over the moon”. — Bernama