New Wireless Pacemaker Has Patient ‘Going Strong’

Photo: FinisherPix

Gina’s heart “paused” twice while she was in the ER with one of the longest atrial fibrillation (Afib) episodes she had ever experienced. It was 2022, and a newly FDA-approved dual chamber leadless (wireless) pacemaker was available through a clinical trial in only a few select sites across the country.

Thankfully for Gina, Hoag was one of those sites. The principal investigator for the trial at Hoag, Rajesh Banker, M.D., is a board-certified cardiac electrophysiologist, and a world-expert in the dual chamber leadless pacemaker. He is also Gina’s cardiologist, someone Gina trusts.

Even so, when Dr. Banker proposed that the then 58-year-old receive a pacemaker, Gina said she balked.

“I tried to talk him into an ablation--I could handle that. I thought, ‘I’m too young to have a pacemaker,’” she said. “Now, I am so grateful.”

Dr. Banker suspected that Gina had sick sinus syndrome, a type of heart rhythm disorder that can cause slow and irregular heartbeats. Treatment usually requires a pacemaker, and Dr. Banker said the dual chamber leadless pacemaker available at Hoag would allow Gina to get back into her active lifestyle without missing a beat – literally.