VIDEO: Leadless pacemaker shows freedom from major complications at 6 months

ORLANDO, Fla. — Dwight W. Reynolds, MD, FACC, FHRS, FAHA, offers an overview of the successes of the Micra Transcatheter Pacing Global Clinical Trial.

According to Reynolds, use of the Micra leadless pacemaker (Medtronic) met its desired safety and efficacy endpoints, as well as reducing hospitalizations by 54% and system revisions by 87%, which were considered statistically significant. Results of the study were presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions and also published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The researchers implanted 719 patients with a transcatheter leadless pacemaker in the right ventricular apex using catheters from the femoral vein. Reynolds, the Regent’s Professor of Medicine and chief of cardiology at University of Oklahoma, addresses the motivations for this approach and the development of this technology, which was to improve issues typically seen with current transvenous pacing systems, such as problems with leads, pockets and venous access.

According to Reynolds, leads are the Achilles heels of traditional pacing systems. With the results of this study, “The Micra seems to have met the requirements for satisfying an alternative [to traditional systems] for a select number of patients,” Reynolds said.