Medica Successfully Implants the First Leadless Pacemaker in History in a Patient With a Glenn Shunt

News Desk, News Nation 360 : In a unique and pioneering medical feat, Medica Superspecialty Hospital, a member of the Manipal Hospitals network, successfully implanted a Micra leadless pacemaker in a 33-year-old woman, RM (name altered), who had a complex congenital heart condition, tetralogy of Fallot, characterized by a pulmonary valve obstruction preventing normal pulmonary blood flow, compounded by her impoverished background and financial inability for such a procedure, made possible due to medical ingenuity, concerted effort under Dr. Dilip Kumar, Dr. Anil Kumar Singhi, and Dr. Somnath Dey, and Manipal Foundation's and other benevolent individuals' support; the patient, having undergone intracardiac repair and a bilateral Glenn shunt after diagnosis at birth of tetralogy of Fallot and having had a failed epicardial pacing lead,

making it impossible for traditional transvenous pacemaker insertion due to the changed cardiovascular architecture, had been reliant on a pacemaker from her first operation and had also experienced failure of her epicardial leads, eventually needing a temporary pacemaker by 2024; considering her complex anatomy and unavailability of good venous access, a leadless pacemaker was the only option, involving both technical and cost challenges overcome, resulting in her admission on March 3, 2025, successful implantation, and discharge in a haemodynamically stable condition on March 5, 2025, being the first known case of this procedure in such an uncommon and complex anatomical situation. Elaborating on this challenging yet miraculous feat, Dr. Dilip Kumar stated that as far as they are aware, no person with Tetralogy of Fallot repair and Glenn shunt has ever had a leadless pacemaker implanted. This accomplishment creates new opportunities for comparable high-risk cases around the globe. The procedure of submitting the manuscript to a US journal is underway. The procedure's success demonstrates the state-of-the-art cardiac care that their hospital offers and the value of financial assistance programs in ensuring that individuals in need of life-saving procedures may access them. Seeing the patient's happy expression and the relief a mother feels when taking care of her 3-year-old child was incredibly touching. They appreciate Dr. Singhi's invaluable contribution on behalf of the paediatric cardiology team and all those who helped make this happen.

Pic - Courtesy