27-year-old Colorado woman never knew that she would get famous one day because of her rare heart condition. Jocelyn Baysinger from Colorado would faint, and her heart would immediately stop beating. The incident would occur once or twice in a year.
Jocelyn worked as an oncology technician at the Denver Health Center where she had fainted. Upon running an EKG, the doctors placed a device to monitor her heart activity. It was found that she suffered from a heart condition called Neurocardiogenic syncope.
Jocelyn once again passed out and the monitoring device within her heart revealed that her it had stopped for almost 30 seconds. The doctors at the Denver Health Center immediately asked her to visit Dr. Matthew Zipse at the University of Colorado Hospital.
9News reported that Jocelyn was heartbroken on finding out that she might have to get a pacemaker. She knew that she couldn’t continue to pass out everywhere as it was hampering her work. JHowever, Jocelyn was a little skeptical about the pacemaker.
This was when Dr. Zipse informed her about the tiny pacemaker. The advancement in medical science had helped scientists work on a cordless, leadless pacemaker that is one-tenth the size of a regular pacemaker. To put it in a better perspective, the pacemaker is of the size of a vitamin tablet!
The world’s smallest pacemaker or the Medtronic Micra Transcatheter Pacing System has received FDA approval in April, last year. It is the first lead-free pacemaker that received approval for use. The pacemaker operation hardly leaves a scar, and she wouldn’t have any restrictions when it comes to moving around. Jocelyn Baysinger realized that the device was perfect for her.
A pacemaker operation already doesn’t require the patient to stay in the hospital for a long time, and now bradycardia patients would have to make a small trip to the hospital before they can get a pacemaker installed and walk out of the place.
Given the size of the pacemaker, the device can be planted inside the body cavity of the patient with the help of a catheter. Moreover, it doesn’t require wires to function. Unlike the other pacemakers, it also doesn’t need a skin pocket and can be directly placed on the heart. Given the size of the pacemaker, even if it stops working after ten years, the doctors can easily put in another pacemaker to replace the first one.
The first successful operation of the world’s smallest pacemaker took place in Colorado. The patient is guaranteed a long and healthy life without any worries and also avoids the scars and restrictions from the earlier pacemaker operations.
Bradycardia, as reported by the International Business Times is a condition that is characterized by reduced heart rate. The patient’s heart beats less than 60 times per minute. This is where the pacemaker comes into the picture. The pacemaker sends small electrical pulses into the walls of the heart and makes it beat at a normal rate.
Since the heart doesn’t beat at regular intervals, bradycardia patients usually suffer from fatigue, shortness of breath and fainting bouts. The new pacemaker even allows the doctors to automatically adjust the pacing therapy depending on the activity of the patient. This will also go a long way in helping the battery last for more than ten years.
The procedure to plant the pacemaker isn’t complicated at all and Jocelyn Baysinger’s operation showed that there is another device to help patients who have irregular heart rhythms.