Max Super Speciality Hospital, Saket, achieved a first for India when a team of medical experts successfully implanted a mobile-app linked and Gallant technology-based cardioverter defibrillator in a 56-year-old man. The device is a next-generation device from Abbott’s Gallant technology. It offers Bluetooth connectivity and a patient smartphone app.
The procedure was done under the leadership of Dr Balbir Singh, chairman Cardiac Sciences Max Super Speciality Hospital Saket and a team of medical experts on February 29, 2020. According to reports, the patient who was from Northern India had complaints of presyncope, light headedness or the sensation of feeling faint without actually fainting. The patient already had a procedure done – Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting surgery. At the time of admission, the ejection fraction (LVEF) of his left ventricle was 35 per cent, report said, meaning that the outflow of blood from the heart each time it contracted was low.
Dr Singh, in regards to the device, said its like having control on the patient from far away. “The new Gallant ICDs bring the most advanced heart rhythm management capabilities for people with abnormal heart rhythms and heart failure,” he explained. “They enable us to monitor our patients remotely and identify episodes of life-threatening abnormal heart rates in them. These features help us to be early with medical interventions.” Dr Singh highlighted that with COVID-19 pandemic taking over India, they could monitor the patient’s heart remotely.
The new Gallant ICDs offer new opportunities for patient engagement and remote monitoring through new smartphone connectivity and connected applications. According to Abbott press release, doctors recommend ICDs for prevention of sudden cardiac death in patients who suffer from reduced cardiac function and who may be at risk of suffering from life threatening abnormal heart rhythms. The abnormal rhythms can occur when the heart beats too fast or chaotically leaving the heart unable to pump blood effectively. It said the new Gallant ICD and the app helps streamline communication and increase engagement between doctors and patients.
