Pacemaker brands

I am coming due for a new pacemaker generator and am wondering if a Medtronic or a Boston Scientific DDDR PM is better. Which one has a longer battery life and which one has better features...any info is appreciated.

3 Comments

Boycott Boston Scientific (Guidant)

by ted - 2008-10-16 03:10:23

Boston Scientific (Guidant) should be rejected because the company lied to us and our doctors about defects in their products a few years ago and lawsuits against Guidant are still ongoing. The company knew that deaths had occurred because of the defective products but made a conscious business decision not to report the defects to the FDA or our doctors so that company profits would not be affected. I don' t have any opinion on the quality of their products since Guidant was bought out by Boston Scientific, but how do we know that the same people who lied to us before, are not still working there.

I was given a choice

by Angelie - 2008-10-16 10:10:28

Of two Boston Scientific models:
One was a tiny bit smaller ( I couldn't really tell) and they quoted me 6 years battery life.
The other one, they say was a little bit bigger, and they quoted 9 years.
I took the 9 year battery life Boston Scientific Altrua 60, although the battery life really depends on how realiant you are to the pacemaker and how often you're being paced. I'm almost 100% atrial paced, so I don't look for this model to last the 9 years as quoted, but otherwise it's been great. I've been happy with the rate responsive features and diagnostic recordings.

Which Brand

by SMITTY - 2008-10-16 12:10:49

I'm of the opinion that this is a question for the doctor. If he has a preference then I say that is the one to go with because that will probably mean the doctor is more comfortable with that brand when it comes to choosing the initial settings and then doing the checkups. Also, it takes different support equipment for different pacemaker brands and a doctor that does not implant several hundred in a year may not be set up to do checkups on any brand.

In the pacemaker clinics where I got my PM they have implanted thousands and have a total of 5 full time and one part time nurse/technicians doing checkups. From the looks of the equipment I see I would say they can handle any brand made in the USA (at least) but it is obvious that Medtronic is the one they do checkups on most often. I know the EP I use prefers Medtronic, but the brand I get will be his choice if I ever get another one.

As for battery life, I doubt that there is a nickles worth of difference in the major brands as I think battery life depends on how much the pacemaker has to send electrical impulses to keep your heart rhythm as needed. When it is not sending impulses it is just monitoring your heart's operation and monitoring has a very low power demand.

Smitty

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