Medical milestone

In a medical milestone for Pietermaritzburg, a city cardiologist successfully implanted the world’s smallest pacemaker in a patient at Mediclinic.

Comparable in size to a vitamin capsule the technology ushers in a new era for patients needing pacemakers. The procedure was performed on Richmond resident Louise English (62) who told Maritzburg Sun she was recovering well after the procedure and looked forward to a new lease on life.

Incidentally, the milestone procedure was performed on World Heart Day. is inserted through a minimally invasive procedure, is leadless and can be implanted directly into the heart. It is inserted through a leg incision, eliminating the need for open-heart surgery and thereby minimising complications and recovery time.

English, who had her first pacemaker implanted in 2012, said, “After my first pacemaker, I was not well for a very long time. This is life-saving for me and I am very thankful to the team for all the help, effort and support.”

The procedure, which took just over an hour, was performed by cardio-surgeon Dr Sanjay Maharaj and overseen by Dr Chris Pepper, a London-based cardiologist and electrophysiologist.

Maharaj said, “The procedure will be the first of many more and other firsts to come.”

Pepper, who has worked with leadless pacemakers since 2016, highlighted the reduced risk of complications with the new device. “With the Micra, it gets rid of being a box that sits under the skin and also eliminates the wires. Most patients that require pacemakers could benefit from the Micra.”

David Tshiporo, the business manager for cardiovascular medicine at Medtronic, said that Mediclinic Pietermaritzburg was chosen

for the procedure based on their commitment to patient health.

“We are very excited to partner with Mediclinic Pietermaritzburg and Dr Sanjay Maharaj for this

procedure,” said Tshiporo.

Meshach Naidu, general manager of Mediclinic Pietermaritzburg, said the institution had a sense of pride for being selected for the inaugural implantation. “It is such a celebratory event as it also took place on World Heart Day,” said Naidu.

Pictures: Shorné Bennie Louise English thanks Dr Sanjay Maharaj (right) following the procedure on Friday. They are surrounded by Medtronic’s David Tshiporo, Dr Chris Pepper and members of the Medtronic team.

Senior technical consultant at Medtronic, Kaan Tol, shows the difference in size of the Medtronic Micra pacemaker (on the left) as opposed to the conventional pacemaker (on the right).