Biventricular Pacemaker

What To Expect

Most people spend the night in the hospital. This is just to make sure that the device is working and that there are no problems from the surgery. But sometimes the procedure is done as an outpatient procedure, which means you don't need to stay overnight in the hospital.

You might see a little bump under the skin where the pacemaker is placed.

Daily precautions

You'll need to be cautious around certain electric devices. Some devices have a strong electromagnetic field. This field can keep your pacemaker from working right for a short time. These devices include things in your home, garage, and workplace. Check with your doctor about what you need to avoid and what you need to keep a short distance away from your pacemaker. Many household and office electronics don't affect your pacemaker.

Why It Is Done

When you have heart failure, the lower chambers of your heart (the ventricles) aren't able to pump as much blood as your body needs. Sometimes the heart has a problem with the electrical system that controls the pumping. This means the ventricles don't pump at the right time or the heart has an abnormal rhythm. A pacemaker for heart failure can help the heart pump blood better.

Whether a pacemaker for heart failure is right for you depends on many medical facts. Your doctor will check many things including:

• How bad your symptoms are and if you have trouble doing everyday activities. Heart failure is grouped—or classified—according to symptoms. Your doctor will probably talk about your heart failure "class" number, which will be between I and IV.
• Your ejection fraction. This is a measure of how much blood your left ventricle pumps.
• Your heart's electrical system. You will likely have tests to check for heart rhythm problems.

How Well It Works

A biventricular pacemaker can help your heart pump blood better. It may help you feel better so you can be more active. It also may help keep you out of the hospital and help you live longer.

A biventricular pacemaker can slow the progression of heart failure. It can do this by helping the heart's electrical system work well and by changing the shape of your heart. In heart failure, the left ventricle often gets too big as it tries to make up for not pumping well. The pacemaker can slow down this change in your ventricle. It might even help your ventricle go back to a more normal size.

• A biventricular pacemaker helps most people feel better, with improvements in energy, breathing, and the ability to stay active.
• Studies have shown that, compared with medicine alone, a biventricular pacemaker lowers the chance of being hospitalized for heart failure and can help people live longer.
• The combination of a pacemaker and an ICD (implantable cardioverter-defibrillator) can also help people live longer and stay out of the hospital.

Risks

There are several risks to getting a pacemaker. But risks vary for each person. Your doctor can help you understand your risks.

Afterward, you will see your doctor regularly to check your pacemaker and make sure you don't have any problems.

During and soon after the procedure

Problems can happen during or soon after the procedure to implant a pacemaker. Examples of problems include the following:

• Pain, bleeding, or bruising may happen soon after the procedure.
• A lung could collapse (pneumothorax). This happens if air builds up in the space between the lung and the chest wall. This might happen about 1 time out of 100. So about 99 times out of 100, no problems happen.
• The doctor might not be able to implant the pacemaker. This might happen if a vein near the left ventricle is too small, too wide, or too hard to reach to allow a lead to be placed. Sometimes the chest or heart may be too big to place a lead.
• Problems during and after the procedure. These might happen about 4 times out of 100. That means problems don't happen about 96 times out of 100.

After the procedure

Problems can also happen months or years after the pacemaker is implanted. These problems are related to the device or the leads. Most people don't have long-term issues with their pacemakers.

Problems include:

• Infection in the chest near the pacemaker. An infection might happen during the first 12 months about 1 or 2 times out of 100. The incidence of infection is highest during the first 12 months and gradually decreases over time.
• The pacemaker or leads might not work. Within a year of pacemaker placement, these problems might happen about 5 to 7 times out of 100. So 93 to 95 times out of 100, the problems don't happen and the pacemaker and leads do work.