New Digital Pacemaker
Reported November 26, 2004
ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Broadcast News)–A Everything seems to be digital 
these days, digital television, digital cameras, digital music, even digital books. Now, the digital concept has made it to the medical world, with the latest advance in pacemakers.
Each week, Sandy Edgington takes granddaughters Kelsey and Belle to their horse riding lessons. It’s just one of the many activities Sandy does. “I golf. I bowl. I ride horses with my granddaughters. I play soccer with my other granddaughter, and I just feel great,” she tells Ivanhoe. And now she feels even better.
Sandy is the first woman in Kentucky to receive a digital pacemaker. “I kind of felt a little honored that they chose me, you know, I think because I’ve tried to be healthy.”
Cardiologist Paul Hirsh, M.D., implanted Sandy’s pacemaker. He says the new device helps him care for his patients better.
“In a matter of seconds, we can know everything going on with the pacemaker, and we can make the appropriate changes, reprogram it very, very quickly — much quicker than any other pacemaker available,” says Dr. Hirsh, of The St. Luke Hospitals in Cincinnati.
To get the information, a special wand is placed over the person’s chest. It then transfers the data to a computer. The device actually stores every single heart beat. Dr. Hirsh says, “If the patient says, ‘Last Wednesday at 2:35 in the afternoon, I felt a heart flutter,’ you can look at it with the computer, find just that moment in time and see what the heart was doing.”
The computer even gives treatment advice.
For Sandy, the biggest benefit is it’s more comfortable than her old one. “I’ve had one for 10 years now.” she says. “Prior to this digital one, I could tell.” Now she can concentrate on more important things — like seeing Belle learn to trot.
Another advantage of the digital pacemaker is that it lasts about twice as long as a non-digital pacemaker. Dr. Hirsh says he believes all pacemakers will be digital within five years.
If you would like more information, please contact:
Amy Stricker
The St. Luke Hospital
Health Alliance
3200 Burnet Ave.
Cincinnati, OH 45229
(513) 585-7200
http://www.healthall.com
[email protected]
