pacemaker questions?

Question

one of my relatives has been told that they need a pacemaker. does anyone know any bad effects of pacemakers? additionally does anyone know how much it would cost to have a pacemaker implemented? thanks for any help, i greatly appreciate all answers

Answer 1

No bad effects is present.
COST:

Permanent pacemaker implantation after cardiac transplantation: extra cost of a conservative policy

ND Holt, G Parry, MM Tynan, JH Dark and JM McComb
Regional Cardiothoracic Centre, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the costs of a change in permanent pacemaker implantation policy to later implantation (day 21+) after cardiac transplantation. DESIGN: Retrospective review of patient records including duration of temporary pacing, timed of permanent pacemaker implantation, and length of hospital stay for every patient surviving > or = 14 days from November 1990 to August 1995 (period 2) and for all patients in whom permanent pacemakers were implanted between May 1985 and November 1990 (period 1). SETTING: Supra-regional cardiopulmonary transplant unit. PATIENTS: 335 consecutive adult cardiac transplant recipients at Freeman Hospital between May 1985 and August 1995. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The cost of the policy change was calculated by subtraction of the overall saving in pacemaker implantations from the overall cost of the extra inpatient stay in period 2 due to delayed implantation. RESULTS: Mean inpatient stay per patient following cardiac transplantation of permanent pacemaker recipients in period 1 was 13.8 days compared with 23.9 days in period 2 (P < 0.001). The cost of this extended hospital stay is 60,095 pounds. Had the implantation policy not been changed, a further seven patients would have received a permanent pacemaker in period 2. A saving in pacemaker hardware of 16,275 pounds was made. Overall, however, the new permanent pacemaker implantation policy increased expenditure by 43,820 pounds, assuming that permanent pacemaker implantation was the only reason for the extended hospital stay. CONCLUSION: The change in policy from early to later permanent pacemaker implantation has markedly increased expenditure.
Hope answered your question.

Answer 2

Howdy thar hasibul

Nice of you to ask about your relative......We sure do need more caring going on.

Many reasons for a pacemaker so many different types and the cost varies upon the technology engineered into them. Most start at around $50,000 and pacemaker/defibrillators combinations and "dual chamber" units run upward to $75,000. All are externally programmable and can be diagnosed for problems from outside the body.

Major potential problems are infection of the "pocket", the hollow made under the skin of the chest: Broken or misplaced leads (wires) requiring replacement: battery malfunction (some have alarms)and most last about 2 years before requiring replacement(surgery): an erratic, fast, or unpredictable heart rhythm and there is aways the potential for recall, of the product, as has occurred within recent years: As with any mechanical/electrical device, it can fail prematurely or expose an engineering or production problem.

All in all, the people who diagnose, place, and maintain these products are extremely competent and skilled in their field and know their products very well. There are 3 major brand products and you may wish to ask your surgeon or cardiologist which he/she feels is the best product (some rotate products to be fair).

Hopen this helps some.......keep'on caring