Category
Implantable Device
Typical Use
Provide electrical pacing for bradyarrhythmias.
Description
An implantable device with leads placed in the heart that senses intrinsic cardiac activity and delivers electrical impulses to maintain adequate heart rate and rhythm in patients with symptomatic bradycardia, heart block, or certain conduction disorders. Pacemaker programming is individualized to patient needs and may include rate responsive features that adjust pacing with activity; follow up includes device interrogation, battery monitoring, and lead assessment. Implantation requires sterile technique, imaging guidance, and perioperative monitoring, and patients receive education about device precautions, remote monitoring, and signs of malfunction. Pacemakers improve symptoms, exercise tolerance, and survival in selected patients but require lifelong device surveillance and occasional generator or lead revision.