Implantation of the World’s Smallest Pacemakers at the Heart Institute
July 25, 2019, the world’s smallest pacemaker Micra Medtronic was implanted at the Heart Institute of Heart of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine to the patients from Kyiv (67 years old) and Sumy (56 years old) diagnosed with a permanent form of atrial fibrillation, a bradysystolic variant.
To date, total eight of these unique devices have been implanted at the Heart Institute by Alexander Gritsay, head of the Heart Rhythm Unit (pictured below left), who is the only Ukrainian doctor certified for such operations (the first such operation at the Heart Institute took place in February this year ).
Much smaller than a conventional pacemaker and weighing less than 2 grams (1.75 grams), the Micra TPS pacemaker is delivered directly to the heart via a catheter inserted into the femoral vein. Unlike conventional implantation procedures for pacemakers, the Micra miniature device does not require a surgical incision and the creation of a pocket for the stimulator under the skin. The photo below, center shows the Micra TPS pacemaker (right) near the conventional pacemaker.
According to the Head of the Department of Cardiac Surgery, X-ray-Vascular and Extracorporeal Technologies named after P. Shupyk National Medical Academy for Postgraduate Education, professor Borys Todurov, Ukraine has become one of three countries in Eastern Europe (after Poland and Hungary), where this modern technology is available.
The surgery was attended by cardiac surgeon Alexander Rusanov (pictured below, right along with a patient from Sumy) and intern Victoria Cherednichenko (Sumy), who had an opportunity to participate in the implantation of a unique device.
