SGPGI doctors implant pacemaker in 105-year-old patient

Dr Naveen Garg, professor, department of cardiology, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), Lucknow claims to have successfully implanted a pacemaker in a 105-year old man.

According to Dr Garg, the patient had complete heart block, which led to multiple complications including lung infection and renal insufficiency. Besides, he weighed just 30 kilos at the time of surgery, which involved implantation of a cardiac pacemaker.

Dr Garg said the man could be the oldest patient in India and third oldest patient in the world to get cardiac pacemaker. Oldest age at the time of pacemaker implantation in the world is 107 years, according to the Guinness World Records.

Giving more details, Dr Garg informed that the patient was brought to SGPGIMS in the first week of March in an extremely frail condition.

The primary problem the patient suffered from was repeated Stokes Adam episodes and hypoxic encephalopathy. His heart rate was just 36 beats per minutes with intermittent long pauses. Along with this, he had developed lung infections and renal insufficiency, according to Dr Garg.

Dr Garg further said the biggest problem was that the patient was severely underweight. He did not have sufficient space below the collarbone to implant the pacemaker, the usual site for implantation.

As a solution to the problem, Dr Garg changed the approach and implanted the VVI pacemaker in the armpit. The procedure was less invasive and helped in providing relief to the patient by helping the heart work normally, according to Dr Garg.

The doctors claimed the patient was stable and noted that the family had a history of living longer. “The patient is being nursed by 100-year-old brother and a 70-year-old son,” said Dr Garg.

According to Dr Garg, the surgery was performed on March 7 and the patient was discharged on March 11.

Source: India Medical Times