On November 6, Health First’s Holmes Regional Medical Center became the first heart surgery center in the southern Atlantic region to implant Abbott’s AVEIR™ DR dual chamber leadless pacemakers, according to the manufacturer. Since then, Health First Cardiac Electrophysiologists, Ken Lee, MD, and Vishal Patel, MD, have implanted about 60 more.

Susan Grandpier, 79, of Vero Beach, and Bruce Davenport, 73, of Melbourne, each received AVEIR DR pacemaker devices earlier this year. Both report high satisfaction and the return of vigor and stamina required to exercise daily.

“I pointed to this [news about the first AVEIR DR] and said, ‘I want this,’” Grandpier recalls telling her local cardiac electrophysiologist.

Heart pacing devices have been implanted for more than 70 years, but wireless – “leadless” – systems are fairly new. Newer still is Abbott’s AVEIR DR’s i2i communication technology providing synchronized pacing between two devices (customizable to patients’ needs) – one in the heart’s right atrium, the other in its right ventricle.

“Two leadless pacing devices, 2 or 3 inches apart, that use the ionic nature of blood to signal, that’s the big advancement,” Dr. Lee says.

“As many as 80% of our patients [with slow heart beats] could end up needing this kind of pacemaker,” Dr. Patel said.

“I probably imagine this more than it’s true – but I feel sharper. My mentation has improved. That’s probably to do with blood flow. I used to get dizzy, not anymore. When I was in Afib (atrial fibrillation), I felt closed in a little. My peripheral vision wasn’t as good. Now, it’s better, and I have a greater exercise tolerance.”

Today, Davenport is back in the gym four days a week.

“Patients tell us how positive it is compared to neighbors, siblings who have had similar implants,” Dr. Lee says. “They say, ‘Not only do I have more energy, I don’t even know I have the device.’”

READ more about patients Bruce Davenport and Susan Grandpier of Vero Beach in Space Coast Daily HERE.