Pacemaker
A device that holds the rhythm when the heart's electrical system no longer does so reliably. Covers implantation and follow-up.
What it measures
- What it measures
- At follow-up the device is interrogated: how often it had to pace, what arrhythmias it recorded, the condition of the leads, and remaining battery life.
- Preparation
- Requires a prior assessment and diagnosis consultation. Fasting and recovery: variable depending on the diagnosis.
- What it feels like
- Implantation is done under local anesthesia with sedation. Later checks are non-invasive: the device is read through the skin with a wand.
- Referral from another doctor
- No
- Results
- Variable depending on the diagnosis
- Where it is done
- At the hospital
What it shows
Front view: the patient right side is on the left of the drawing. The diagram shows where the device sits and how it gets there, not which part of the heart it reaches: that depends on each person and is for the cardiologist to decide. It declares no measurement.
- 01
- The generator. It is the part that decides when an impulse is needed, and it sits under the skin, below the collarbone. It does not go inside the heart.
- 02
- The lead. It travels inside a vein to the heart: it does not cross tissue, which is why the chest does not have to be opened.
- 03
- The heart, with no detail. The drawing stops here on purpose: which part the lead reaches depends on why the pacemaker is needed.
It is placed through a vein and under local anaesthetic. This is not open-heart surgery, which is what almost everyone pictures on hearing the word.
A pacemaker does not speed up a healthy heart: it steps in only when the natural rhythm falls below what is safe. It is indicated when the electrical system fails persistently, with pauses or blocks that cause fainting or disabling fatigue.
What tends to be underestimated is follow-up. The device stores a record of everything that happened between visits, and each check adjusts its programming and estimates remaining battery life.
That history is diagnostic information: it often explains a symptom the patient could not describe.