Pacemaker Clinics
Each year, 90,000 new pacemakers are surgically implanted in the U.S. These pacemakers last from five to ten years. If you or one of your loved ones has a pacemaker, it's important to know that is working properly. Although pacemaker failure may make itself obvious by severely impacting a person's vital functioning, often a pacemaker's malfunction may be less apparent. In such cases, the decline can be gradual, almost imperceptible, and the patient might not even notice that he or she is having a decline in quality of life as the pacemaker loses its ability to compensate for changes in activity level.
For these reasons, periodic pacemaker evaluations are crucial to maintaining a patient's quality of life. In order to make these check-ups as convenient as possible, the Heart & Vascular Center operates pacemaker clinics staffed by professionals who specialize in analyzing pacemaker performance. The frequency of your evaluations will be decided by your individual needs, the age and type of pacemaker, and the recommendations of your physician. Your schedule will include both clinical visits and transtelephonic monitoring. Transtelephonic monitoring allows you to have your pacemaker checked in the comfort of your home, using a specialized telephone transmitter which relays important information regarding your pacemaker function to the Heart Center for interpretation.
By identifying problems in advance, these clinics are able to maximize your pacemaker functioning. For example, patients who receive timely evaluations may find that they can prolong pacemaker life, anticipate and plan for their replacements when appropriate, and even identify changes in heart rhythms which necessitate pacemaker reprogramming. Patients are often thrilled to find that their inability to finish a game of golf, work in their garden or play with their grandchildren is not an inevitable result of aging but instead the result of pacemaker malfunction which can be quickly and easily corrected.
Most Heart & Vascular Center locations are able to perform transtelephonic monitoring, but, at present, all clinical evaluations must be completed at our Sarasota location. However, eventually all locations will be able to perform the on-site clinical evaluations. Hours vary, and appointments are necessary.
If you currently have a pacemaker and are not receiving periodic evaluations, speak to your Heart & Vascular Center physician for a clinic referral.