Jingchu.com released a news on December 3, 2021. The 92-year-old Grandpa Yao is a volunteer soldier. More than ten years ago, he went to the hospital for angina pectoris. Since then Became an old patient in Cardiology. In mid-November, Grandpa Yao developed chest tightness, shortness of breath, and fatigue, and immediately went to the hospital for examination.

The examination found that Grandpa Yao had bradycardia, with a heartbeat of only 30 beats per minute. This is a risk of sudden death for an elderly man with multiple organ failure at any time. . At this time, implanting a pacemaker is a good option, but this operation has great risks for the elderly.

After the medical team discussed with Grandpa Yao, Grandpa Yao agreed to the operation. The medical team conducted a comprehensive assessment of various situations that may occur during the operation and formulated a careful surgical plan. In the end, the operation was successfully completed, which greatly relieved the pressure on Grandpa Yao’s heart.

It has been almost 120 years since the advent of the pacemaker. With the continuous development of technology, the pacemaker is also changing rapidly.

In 2020, the latest pacemaker product Micra AV (Medtronic), unveiled at the CIIE, weighs only 1.75 grams and is 0.8 cubic centimeters, which is equivalent to The vitamin capsule is similar in size, making it the world’s smallest pacemaker. It can be seen that the manufacturing technology of cardiac pacemakers has made great achievements and can be further developed in the future.

In addition, the pacemaker implantation in clinical practice is also progressing continuously. The pacemaker can be implanted smoothly through minimally invasive surgery, and the risk is greatly reduced.

Although the number of people with heart disease in our country is increasing year by year, there are many kinds of heart disease, so different types of heart disease, treatment way is also different. Therefore, we should understand why the heart is equipped with a pacemaker.

Why does the heart need a pacemaker?

I think before we understand that the heart needs a pacemaker, we should understand the heart and how the heart beats, and how the pacemaker helps the heart beat .

The heart is divided into four chambers, the left and right atrium and the left and right ventricles. The atrial septum and the ventricular septum divide the heart into left and right halves, each of which is divided into the upper atrium and the lower ventricle by the atrioventricular orifice and surrounding valves.

Each beat of the heart is powered by heart signals. In the upper part of the right atrium of the heart, there is a structure called the sinoatrial node. The sinoatrial node is the command center of the heart’s beating, can control the rhythm and frequency of the heart, and is also the pacemaker of the heart strong>.

First, the sinoatrial node issues instructions, and then transmits electrical signals to various parts of the heart through the conduction system of the left and right bundle branches. When an electrical signal is sent to the atrium, the atrium begins contraction in response to this signal, and when the atrium contracts, it pumps blood to the diastolic ventricle >middle; when the signal is sent to the ventricle, the ventricle receives the signal to start contraction, then the right ventricle pumps blood to the lungs, The left ventricle pumps blood throughout the body. This whole process is a complete heart beat.

Also, blood from the right atrium is pumped into the right ventricle, and when the right ventricle contracts, it pumps venous blood to the pulmonary artery, because oxygen drawn in from the lungs, Venous blood and oxygen combine to become arterial blood. After the left atrium collects arterial blood, when the left atrium contracts, it will pump arterial blood in the left atrium into the left ventricle, and When the left ventricle contracts, it pumps arterial blood to the aorta and its important branches to supply blood and oxygen to various organs.

Therefore, if there is a problem with the heart’s beat command system, it will cause problems with the entire pumping system of the heart, resulting in arrhythmia. In this case, the blood cannot flow to the various tissues and organs of the body in time, and it cannot provide nutrients and oxygen to various tissues.

A prolonged period of time like this can lead to heart failure, which can be life-threatening in severe cases.

In this case, the pacemaker came into being. A pacemaker is also equivalent to a command assistance system, which can monitor the heartbeat and whether the frequency of the heartbeat is normal.

If the heart stops abnormally or beats too slowly to reach the normal range, then the pacemaker detects this abnormal heartbeat, and A pulsed current will be released. This current will electrically stimulate the heart, assist or replace the sinoatrial node to send out heartbeat commands, prompt the heart to restore normal heartbeat and beating frequency, maintain the normal operation of the heart, and restore the oxygen supply to other organs and tissues in the body. blood supply.

Pacemaker implantation surgery is to insert the electrode lead from the arm or the vein below the clavicle first, and then insert it into the scheduled cardiac pacing under X-ray fluoroscopy. The position is fixed. Then do a test to see if the pacemaker works and the connection works. After that, the pacemaker connected to the electrode leads is buried under the skin of the patient’s chest, and the skin is sutured, and the operation is completed.

Have a general understanding of why the heart needs a pacemaker, let’s analyze who needs a pacemaker.

Do people with heart disease need a pacemaker?

Heart diseases are divided into many conditions. People with heart diseases have different physical conditions, so not all people with heart diseases, A pacemaker is required. Therefore, people with the following conditions may need a pacemaker.

It can be seen from the above that the pacemakeris mainly suitable for the problem of the sinus node, the commanding part of the heart beating, or the occurrence of the conduction branch that conducts electrical signals. problems, only the aid of a pacemaker is required.

So patients with sinus node insufficiency or atrioventricular block may require a pacemaker. Patients with these two conditions may have the following symptoms in the heart, and then the doctor will decide whether to install a pacemaker based on the actual situation of the patient.

First, patients with chronic slow heartbeat symptoms. The normal rate of the heartbeat is 60 to 100 beats per minute, if it is less than 60 beats per minute, it is bradycardia. If a person is beating between 40 and 60 beats per minute and is not experiencing any symptoms of discomfort, a pacemaker may not be necessary for this condition.

However, when a person’s heart rate is often less than 40 beats per minute, or the heart stops beating for more than 3 seconds, the eyes are often blackened or suddenly fainted. Waiting for symptoms may require a pacemaker.

Patients with irrhythmic, irregular heartbeats may need a pacemaker to adjust for the disordered heart rhythm. such as tachyarrhythmias such as atrial flutter, ventricular fibrillation, etc., and at the same time there are bradyarrhythmias, such as sinus bradycardia, atrioventricular block bradycardia and so on. In this case, targeted treatment cannot be performed, and a pacemaker needs to be installed to control it, and then targeted medication can be administered.

Patients with weak heartbeat, constant chest tightness, and difficulty breathing may have severe heart failure. This condition may also require a pacemaker. When severe heart failure occurs, checking the electrocardiogram at this time may find ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation on the electrocardiogram. At this time, the patient is prone to sudden death and other symptoms, and the situation will be more critical. A pacemaker can relieve symptoms of heart failure.

Can a pacemaker be installed in the heart once and for all?

The heart is a complex organ, and there are many aspects that affect the heart rate. Moreover, the pacemaker itself should belong to an electronic product, and it may also be damaged.

First of all, the most common heart disease is coronary heart disease. The main cause of coronary heart disease is atherosclerotic lesions, and atherosclerotic lesions are progressive lesions that may appear with age. disease.

A disease like atherosclerosis doesn’t happen overnight. But once it occurs, it cannot be reversed, it can only be controlled, not cured. This is true of most heart diseases.

The pacemaker is just an auxiliary device that directs the beating of the heart and the rhythm of the beating. When the heart rhythm is disturbed, it can effectively help the human body to restore the heartbeat. A normal rhythm does not cure heart disease. So it is unrealistic to think that once a pacemaker is installed in the heart, it can be done once and for all.

A pacemaker is a small machine made up of various tiny parts. In daily life, if the pacemaker is subjected to some external stimuli, or because it has been used for too long, parts may fall off. Although the probability is low, if this happens, the detached parts may directly enter the blood vessels or the heart, causing direct damage to the heart.

In addition, the pacemaker itself does not belong to the human body, and the pacemaker itself is relatively hard. If it is subjected to external blows and collisions, it will be easily damaged. Tissue blood vessels surrounding the pacemaker, causing internal bleeding.

Pacemakers can send pulses of electricity because there is a battery inside. If the battery fails, the pacemaker cannot function properly. The heart itself is only able to maintain normal work because of the adjustment of the pacemaker. If the pacemaker does not work, it is difficult for the heart itself to restore the rhythm through self-regulation, which is prone to danger.

After a pacemaker is installed in the heart, it is also necessary to frequently go to the hospital for an electrocardiogram to check if there is any problem with the pacemaker. Pacemakers also have a service life and need to be replaced after a certain period of use.

So after understanding the above situation, it can be seen that the pacemaker cannot be done once and for all, and there may still be many problems that need to be more careful.

Write at the end

It is understandable to want to cure the disease, after all, the pain The pain that comes is not good. But instead of paying attention to the treatment of diseases, it is better to pay more attention to the prevention of diseases, which is simpler and more convenient.

After reading this article, I hope to increase everyone’s understanding of pacemakers, and I hope everyone can pay attention to the health of the heart and reduce pain.happy life.