Watch out for Thoracic Impedence devices

• by BillMFl
• 2009-02-16 01:02:53
• Complications
• 1486 views
• 1 comments

Last Nov. my now ex Cardiologist hooked me up to his brand new BioZ machine. It sends a a small dc current thru your heart/lung region and measures impedence looking for signs of fluid build up from heart failure. I have an approc 70% ejection fraction, and he knew it, and I have absolutely no symptoms associated with heart failure. I think he was putting all of his patients on this new test just so he could bill for it. As soon as the current was turned on I went into severe Atrial flutter and extreme discomfort. The doc had walked out of the room and I hollered for help. He denied shocking me. I looked up the device on the manufactures web site and indeed it does measure impedence by apply dc current thru the chest. If you have a pm, especially a DDDR pm with response rate, the pm will sense the voltage from the machine and think it is coming from your heart. There is a web site for medical users called User Experience Network that published a warning to hospitals not to use impedence devices on pm patients unless their pm is temporarily turned off, or the rate response function is turned off. What really made me mad is that the Cardiologist and his EP staff member tried to convince me I needed an ablation to elmiinate my Atrial flutter problem. And they had induced it! My new cardiologist scoffed at their dx and said they should have known better. Lesson learned- not every cardiologist has taken the time to fully understand their new equipment. Second opinions are often the smartest decision you can make!