Pacemaker Implant Team at the Grenada General Hospital. Photo credit: Josh Yetman
On May 20th, 2011, Dr. Jason S. Finkelstein implanted a heart patient with a dual chamber pacemaker at the Grenada General Hospital. I was honored to be asked to assist with the implant, based upon my previous experience with cardiac rhythm management devices.
Pacemaker implants are rare in Grenada, with only about 25 devices implanted over the past 10 years. Dr. Mark Lanzieri pioneered the implant program and continues to implant devices during his visits to Grenada.
Dr. Johansen Sylvester is the driving force behind St George’s University’s Visiting Cardiology Program, which brings cardiac care to the citizens of Grenada.
The patient was in third-degree atrioventricular heart block, with a ventricular rate of about 35 bpm. Once the pacemaker was implanted, the device began to track the patient’s P wave and pace the ventricle in response to the patients intrinsic atrial rate.
The device was a St. Jude Medical Identity® ADx dual chamber pacemaker, paired with the Tendril® SDX series of lead wires.
