A cardiac battery is a small pacemaker device implanted in the chest through pacemaker implantation surgery that is used to regulate the slow heartbeat to make it more rapid.
Pacemaker
Normally, the electrical signals that make the heart work originate from an area in the heart’s right atrial wall called the sinoatrial node (SA node). This node is the heart’s natural battery, generating electrical impulses that travel through the heart in a synchronized fashion, creating a “heartbeat.”
An artificial heart battery (or so-called pacemaker) is an electrical medical device that helps regulate the heartbeat and is therefore considered a treatment for many life-threatening heart conditions.
Implanting a heart battery in the chest requires a simple procedure called pacemaker implantation surgery, which is generally safe because the surgeon does not enter the chest cavity itself, but the procedure carries some risks due to its proximity to one of the most vital organs, the heart.
Pacemaker implantation surgery is one of the most common procedures around the world. A study published in 2002 reported that nearly 3 million people around the world at that time had a pacemaker in their chest, and 600,000 new pacemakers are implanted each year in people of all ages.
Components of a pacemaker
A pacemaker consists of a pulse generator as well as a set of wires (leads) that carry electrical current.
The pulse generator in pacemakers contains an electronic circuit and a battery. Usually, lithium batteries are used to power these devices. These batteries last from five to ten years before they need to be changed. After the expiration of the time, the patient has to undergo pacemaker implantation surgery to change the pacemaker.
Pathways are wires that connect the pacemaker to the heart. Most pathways traverse the veins to the right chambers of the heart and are secured there with a small screw or hook during pacemaker implantation surgery.
Types of pacemakers in Turkey
Cardiac batteries usually have one or two leads and are divided into single-chamber and dual-chamber batteries, but as a result of the development of treatment in Turkey in the field of pacemakers, other types have emerged with new features that have made pacemakers more widely used, including these types:
- A single-chamber pacemaker: It has one pathway that goes to the right atrium or right ventricle and sends electrical signals to only one of them.
- A dual-chamber pacemaker: It has two pathways, one going to the right atrium and the other to the right ventricle, sending electrical signals to both of these chambers.
- Biventricular pacemaker: This type has three wires (leads) that send electrical signals to the right atrium, right ventricle, and left ventricle, helping make both sides of the heart beat synchronously. The biventricular battery implant is called cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT).
- The leadless pacemaker: This is a small wireless device about the size of a large pill capsule that is implanted through a catheter and attached to the inner wall of the heart, requiring no wires to transmit the signal.
Your doctor will decide the type of battery to be implanted during pacemaker implantation surgery after consulting you and considering your medical condition and health status.
Reasons for installing a heart battery
Reasons for pacemaker implantation surgery include:
- Bradycardia: One of the most common reasons for requiring pacemaker implantation surgery, bradycardia prevents adequate blood supply to the brain and body in general, which can lead to symptoms such as fatigue and dizziness and may cause permanent damage to internal organs due to ischemia.
- Cardiac blockade: The result of too slow or no signal transmission to the entire myocardium, which leads to the appearance of abnormal heart rhythms and thus cardiac arrhythmias.
- Aging or heart failure: If the sinoatrial node’s function and ability to correct the heart rhythm are impaired, this may result in a succession of slow and fast beats, which is known as “sick node syndrome.”
- Cardiac fibrillation: The atria contract in a very fast and irregular manner, and the ventricles try to adapt to this change and become either fast or slow. Some medications used in the treatment of cardiac fibrillation may make the ventricles too slow, resulting in the same symptoms of bradycardia and requiring pacemaker implantation surgery.
There are also some conditions that require pacemaker implantation surgery only temporarily, such as acute trauma to the heart muscle, including heart attacks and drug poisonings, where the heart rhythm can return to normal after the acute phase has passed.
In the case of tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation, another battery-like device called an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) is implanted, which is able to detect dangerous arrhythmias and deliver a shock to the heart to reorganize the heart rhythm.
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How to perform pacemaker implantation surgery in Turkey
After the patient’s medical history, blood tests, and electrocardiogram, a sedative is used to calm the patient and then local anesthesia is applied at the surgical site, meaning they will remain awake during the pacemaker implantation surgery.
Pacemaker implantation surgery in Turkey is often performed intravenously, which means that the pathways and electrodes are passed through veins until they reach the heart. Neck, chest, or groin veins can be used, but the chest veins are the most commonly used.
First, the surgeon makes a small incision, usually near the collarbone, then passes the pathway through the incision into a large vein (such as the subclavian vein), and uses a fluoroscopy machine (a type of X-ray that provides continuous images of the chest) to guide the pathway toward the heart.
When the pathways reach the appropriate cardiac chamber, they are connected to the heart muscle, and then the second end is connected to a pulse generator that is implanted under the skin of the chest near the collarbone.
After the pacemaker implantation surgery, the surgeon will test the battery and make sure it is working properly by performing an ECG before closing the surgical site with sutures.
The patient will need to stay in the hospital for a few hours or until the next day, and after returning home, the doctor will monitor the battery remotely and arrange regular visits to the medical clinic to check its functioning.
Most patients only need to rest for a few days after pacemaker implantation and then return to their normal daily activities, but your doctor may ask you to avoid certain power tools that have strong magnetic fields.
Heart Battery Risks
Heart battery damage is related to the pacemaker implantation surgery process and includes the following:
- Allergy to anesthesia
- Formation of blood clots
- Sepsis forming near the battery implant site
- Swelling and bleeding at the operation site, especially when taking blood thinners
- Damage to blood vessels or nerves during the procedure
- Scar formation around the pacemaker
- Pneumothorax or “collapsed lung”
Perhaps the most important complication after pacemaker implantation surgery is the loss of the heart battery’s ability to control the heart rhythm, either because of its dysfunction or because the wire moves out of place. This may prompt the doctor to perform a second pacemaker implantation surgery, which can often be avoided by minimizing the patient’s movement for a period after surgery.
There are also issues caused by external electrical interference, but fortunately, advances in cardiac battery technology have made this very rare.
A study published in the European Heart Journal found that the survival rate after pacemaker implantation surgery can reach high figures depending on the individual patient’s condition.
Bimaristan Medical Center will provide you with all the services you need for pacemaker implantation surgery by the most skilled doctors in Turkey and will accompany you step by step toward recovery, offering free consultations around the clock.
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