Aveir LPM implant two days ago

60M. Happy to have found this community. After months of dealing with chronotropic incompetence secondary to an ablation for afib, I had a pacemaker implanted yesterday morning (Aveir Leadless, Atrial). Other than my SA Node, which still produces a p-wave but stalls at around 120bpm, my conduction system is intact (multiple 12-lead ECGs are normal), so single chamber atrial pacing with rate response was recommended and was the approach taken.

The procedure took about 2 hours, a little longer than planned, as the EP had to work around scar tissue from the ablation. I received a deep sedative (propofol, I think) and slept through the entire implantation. I felt well enough to go home but my physician's protocol is an overnight stay for those receiving the Aveir device, which was completely ok with me. The only discomfort I experienced, which was/is very mild, is from the incision made to insert the catheter through the femoral vein.

Device interrogation by Abbott rep the morning after implantation went well, and by his and my EP's assessment, the procedure was successful. I'm scheduled for follow-up with EP and device clinic in a couple of weeks, and was told that pacing parameters will likely have to be tweaked a few times.

I can't feel the device or the pacing at all, though I have noticed a definite uptick in my energy level, as well as a couple of brief but surprising jumps in HR. I'm now looking forward to begin road-testing the device in a week or so ( running, hiking) after the incision heals.

That's all I have for now. Will keep you posted. 

Anyone else with the Aveir device?

6 Comments

glad to hear you are feeling better

by new to pace.... - 2024-07-04 18:15:18

There are a few on this site who have had the leadless put in.  while you are waiting for others to respond.  You might use the search to see what others have said. 

Do take it easy for a couple of weeks to make sure your femoral arterty incision has really healed.

new to pace

Thank you

by Blue63 - 2024-07-04 18:35:50

I appreciate your advice and will be *very* careful - slow, light, and steady. I'm not at all interested in a trip to the ER! 

 

Again, thanks!

What???

by sgmfish - 2024-07-04 19:37:57

What I wouldn't give to have your previous 120 BPM :-). These days I live in a world where my top rate is 85!

awesome!

by Tracey_E - 2024-07-05 09:35:52

The aveir is getting more popular but not a lot here have them yet. Cat111 just got hers in the last couple of weeks. 

May I ask where you had yours done, and do you know how many they've done?

Responses..

by Blue63 - 2024-07-06 02:16:38

Sgmfish: I'm sorry to hear that -85  cannot be easy.

 

Trace_ E: I had the implant done at Weill-Cornell in New York City. They participated in the development of the device and the clinical trials. I was told by the Abbott rep that the surgeon had done something like 100 of these implants, among the most in the US. 

 

 

 

 

 

"Sgmfish: I'm sorry to hear that -85 cannot be easy."

by sgmfish - 2024-07-06 20:42:52

Actually, not all that bad. If I were younger YES, but at 80 years old, I don't have high expectations, and I don't do all the hiking, skiing, etc I used to do. They set my max rate at 80 for a while there, and I did find that limiting. I had them reset it to 90 and that helped *a lot* when taking 1-2 miles walks on flat terrain. Later, they pulled it back to 85 in order to lower how often my ventricle gets paced (by giving my natural pulses more time to "get there"). 85 seems to be a happy compromise so far. Actually, I think dssychrony affects me more than a low rate.  As many do, I have one lead which goes into my right ventricle -- which means my heart suffers from dysschrony since there is a delay as the pace pulse travels from the right V to the left V. Next step is likely a CRT pacemaker which would restore synchrony when my Vs are paced.

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It is just over 10 years since a dual lead device was implanted for complete heart block. It has worked perfectly and I have traveled well near two million miles internationally since then.