Patients receiving leadless pacemakers experience overall fewer short-term and mid-term complications than those receiving traditional transvenous pacemakers, a Cleveland Clinic led research study found. The study was published in journal Heart Rhythm. Approximately one million pacemakers are implanted annually, providing electrical stimulation to regulate a patient's heartbeat. Conventional pacemakers are surgically placed under the skin of a patient's chest, with wires, or leads, stretching from the shoulder vein and attaching to the heart.
These wires and the surgical implantation are the most common source of complications, occurring in up to 12% of device recipients, according to previous research. Leadless pacemakers, by contrast, do not need wires. The small self-contained devices about 10 % of the size of a traditional pacemaker are placed directly into the heart using a…
