St. Luke’s cardiologist and electrophysiologist Dr. Darren Traub made medical history in this region this month when he implanted the first new leadless and retrievable pacemaker into a patient at St. Luke’s Bethlehem Campus.
On Aug. 2, Traub, who specializes in correcting abnormal heart rhythms, inserted the Abbott Aveir VR Leadless Pacemaker, a tiny silver tube smaller than a AAA battery, into the lower right heart chamber of a patient whose heart was beating chronically more slowly than normal. This minimally invasive procedure – the device was mounted on a thin wire, or catheter, for insertion – was the first performed anywhere in the Lehigh Valley and one of the first done in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
While conventional pacemakers have insulated wires that deliver electrical energy to “pulse” the heart, this new device adheres directly to the heart muscle to regulate its rhythm. Its battery life is potentially twice as long as other leadless pacers.
St. Luke’s four electrophysiologists (Dr. Hardik Mangrolia, Dr. Sudip Nanda, Dr. Steven Stevens and Dr. Darren Traub) lead the region in introducing pioneering technology and treatments for heart failure, using pacemakers and other innovative devices that strengthen heart function and improve quality of life. St Luke’s is part of an international trial implanting a new, combined device that is both able to deliver contract contractility modulation therapy and function as an implantable cardioverter defibrillator to both improve quality of life and deliver life-saving therapy to prevent sudden death in patients with heart failure.
Join our readers whose generous donations are making it possible for you to read our news coverage. Help keep local journalism alive and our community strong. Donate today.
