Pacemaker

Okay, let the heart specialists in Bergen County explain what a pacemaker is. In a very real sense, your heart runs on electricity. It has its own built-in electrical system that controls the rate and rhythm at which your heart muscles contract to keep it beating and pumping blood to the rest of your body. When the electrical signals that control your heartbeat become erratic, a condition called arrhythmia can develop that places undue pressure on either the upper chambers of the heart (the atria) or the lower chambers (the ventricles). This condition can cause the heartbeat to be too slow or too fact, and can result in symptoms such as palpitations, lightheadedness, dizziness, or even syncope(fainting). Left untreated, arrhythmias can even lead to cardiac arrest.

One of the technologies used to combat this condition is a pacemaker, which is a small, battery-powered medical device that is inserted through a small incision in the chest, usually beneath the shoulder or collar bone. Once installed, the pacemaker continually releases low-energy electrical impulses to restore a regular heartbeat.

Implanting a pacemaker is not a light decision, so before your Hackensack cardiologist recommends one, they will carefully consider not only the state of your cardiac health as measured by diagnostic tests, but also symptoms of arrhythmia you have reported, your overall health, and whether or not you have a previous history of heart disease.

If it is determined that you need a pacemaker, it will be inserted in a hospital during a surgical procedure that usually requires only an overnight stay. Afterwards, the functioning of the pacemaker will be carefully monitored by the best heart doctors in Bergen County, as part of your ongoing cardiac care.

If your cardiologist has suggested that you may be suffering from arrhythmia, you may also want to read the ICD section on this website, which describes another type of device used to control irregular heartbeats.

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