Pacemakers have been around for decades, but that’s not to say that we’ve exhausted their capabilities. A few pacemaker success stories from around the globe:
A miracle baby in Melbourne recently became the smallest ever pacemaker user. She was born this summer at 26 weeks gestation and weighed 540 grams (about 1.19 lb). In June, the baby was connected to an external pacemaker that kept her alive for 130 days. She received a permanent device last week after putting on more weight.
Gastric pacemakers for gastroparesis (paralysis of the stomach, which causes a host of digestive problems) is a relatively new technology. When the user is eating, the pacemaker sends electrical impulses to the stomach muscles and they contract, helping with digestion. In the UK, this device solved the problems of a woman who was unable to properly digest food for four years.
Pacemakers sometimes even get a second life. Financially strapped patients in the Philippines were recently given refurbished pacemakers by the Detroit-based nonprofit outfit World Medical Relief. The devices—50 of them in total—were donated by funeral homes in the Detroit area. This was part of a study whose results were published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology earlier this month.
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October 21st, 2009
