Dr. Harish Manyam, chief of cardiology at Erlanger Health System, has implanted a dual chamber implantable cardioverter defibrillator, making him the first in the U.S. to do so, Erlanger reports.
The same day, Manyam also was the first in the country to implant a single chamber ICD, Erlanger says.
These devices feature compatibility with magnetic resonance imaging and Bluetooth technology to facilitate communication between patients and their doctors.
The Erlanger cardiology team is now offering these ICDs and cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator devices for patients with abnormal heart rhythms and heart failure.
The high-voltage devices offer a smartphone app and Bluetooth communication for improved remote monitoring and streamlined communications to help doctors address a patient’s clinical needs. The app provides access to data, device performance and transmission history.
Through the app, physicians can continuously monitor their patients remotely, allowing for identification of asymptomatic episodes as well as patient-triggered transmissions, which can lead to earlier intervention.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that as many as 6.1 million people in the United States battle cardiac arrhythmias, or abnormal heart rhythms. ICDs are often recommended to help reduce the risks of life-threatening arrhythmias.
For patients with heart failure or in situations when the heart’s chambers beat out of sync, CRT-Ds can be used to restore the heart’s natural pattern of beating.
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Source: Erlanger Heart and Lung Institute