Function of Pacemaker at death

Does anyone know what happens when a person with a Pacemaker has a terminal health condition such as a severe stroke, terminal cancer and vital organs shutting down? Does the Pacemaker continue to function until shut down by someone or how can they determine death has occurred with the heart still beating.  I asked a couple of people and no one knows the answer. I have a friend with a serious pulmonary disease and he has a pacemaker.

5 Comments

pacing

by Tracey_E - 2018-04-10 09:33:14

TThe pacer doesn't physically make the heart beat, just sends out an electrical signal. The heart responds by contracting, that's the beat we feel. The pacer will keep on sending the signal until it's turned off but when we die, the heart muscle stops responding.

 

At death

by Gotrhythm - 2018-04-10 13:40:53

You've asked a question I've wondered about many times. TraceyE's answer is correct. The pacemaker doesn't make the heart pump or contract. It just sends the electrical signal that says it's time to  pump. 

The pacemaker will continue to send out signals, but at some point, as the other organs shut down, heart cells will start to die too. The heart won't be able to pump anymore, and there will be no heartbeat. Death will be unmistakeable.

Your friend is fortuanate to have a friend like you who is willing to ask about death. Too many people die alone emotionally, not because they are unloved, but because no one around them is able to discuss with them the fact that they are dying.

death

by The real Patch - 2018-04-10 18:51:35

My doctor has a saying...you can't beat dead meat. That simply means if your heart has died a pacemaker will not affect it. Tracey is right that is just sends a low voltage electrical signal to the heart muscle but when we die there's nobody there to answer. As Robin said, in most places in the US, death is defined as cessation of brain activity (not the heart).

Comforting answers.

by Figallegro - 2018-04-10 21:01:23

Thank you for the wonderful informative comments. One less thing to think about. This is such a great site and it helped me immensely when I had my PM inserted 1 1/2 years ago. I don't even think about it or know it is there. No physical restriction in doing things at age 72. It was emotionally rough the first two months.

keeps on ticking

by dwelch - 2018-04-16 03:26:37

We generally have a lower limit on the pacer, I would assume all of them do so if the natural rythm falls below that rate, the pacer will drive at that rate until the natural rythm goes back above that rate, or the battery runs out, or someone shuts it off.

So perhaps this is just a duplicate answer, but if you think about it and how they work, yes it keeps sending the signal, it keeps operating.  But sending signals is its job, the body responding is another story.

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