Pacemakers and Defibrillators
Lakeview Heart Center offers full-service follow-up for people who have an implanted device, such as a pacemaker or defibrillator. This includes periodic routine visits that can help detect problems and prevent symptoms from affecting your independence and activities of daily living.
Follow-up for patients who have an implanted device includes:
- Postoperative surveillance through routine tests
- Observation
- Making adjustments to address potential problems
Pacemaker follow-up services depend on the age and type of pacemaker and include:
- Transtelephonic monitoring
- Scheduled clinic visits for threshold testing
When Do Follow-up Services Start?
You will need to come to the clinic to have your pacemaker tested seven to ten days after it is implanted. It is recommended that you bring someone who can help you to this first appointment. This visit typically lasts about one hour. At this time, you will receive a monitoring unit (transmitter) and complete instructions for its use.
Transtelephonic Monitoring
At one-month postimplantation, you will have a telephone test. A technician will call you at home at a predetermined time. You will follow the technician's instructions to test your device over the phone in the comfort of your own home. This test takes less than five minutes, and the results will be reviewed briefly with you at the conclusion of the telephone check. Each test is reviewed by a cardiologist and placed in your record at Lakeview Heart Center.
Emergency telephone testing is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Threshold Testing
Pacemaker clinic visits are called threshold testing. These visits occur once or twice a year as prescribed by your physician. A registered nurse trained in pacemaker device therapy performs this evaluation, which takes approximately 30 minutes. The nurse checks your vital signs and discusses possible pacemaker-related symptoms. The nurse also examines your pacemaker pocket and performs a series of noninvasive painless tests to analyze the pacemaker's function.
The pacing system includes the pulse generator, the lead(s) connecting the pacemaker to the heart and you, the patient. All three of these components need to be evaluated in the clinic. Threshold testing helps the nurse determine if your pacemaker settings are programmed appropriately. Correct settings increase the longevity of the pacemaker generator. The test results are interpreted by a cardiologist and kept in your record.
Follow-up for Other Devices
Internal cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) follow-up is similar to a pacemaker clinic visit. You need to come to the clinic for this evaluation. The appointments last approximately 45 minutes and can be as frequent as every three months.
A nurse will check your vital signs and perform an analysis of your ICD. The analysis and testing is sometimes referred to as an "interrogation." Following the interrogation, a nurse practitioner or cardiologist will review the testing results. |
