His technological “guardian angel” saves him

ROME.—A implantable defibrillator allowed discover from a distance that a persondespite the absence of symptoms, was suffering an acute heart attack and alerted the cardiologists of the Gemelli Polyclinic Control Center in Romewho saved his life with an angioplasty, the Italian hospital revealed yesterday.

The Gemelli Arrhythmology Unit daily receives abundant information teletransmitted by the devices of the patients being monitored, but sometimes “the potential of these technological gems, true guardian angels implanted in patients, even exceeds expectations.”

This is the case of “Mr Mario”, as the medical center calls the patient to protect their privacy, which was recently published in the “British Medical Journal Case Reports”, points out the hospital.

“Remote monitoring of the parameters detected by life-saving implantable devices, such as pacifiers and defibrillators (…), allows us not only to quickly identify possible operating problems of the implanted system, but also the appearance of important arrhythmias,” he explains. Gemma Pelargonioresponsible for the Arrhythmology Unit of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic Foundation.

In the case of “Mr. Mario, something really special happened, which goes far beyond ordinary administration,” explains the medical center regarding the 70-year-old patient who presents chronic ischemic heart disease and to whom A dual-chamber defibrillator was implanted because he suffers from cardiac decompensation with reduced ejection fraction, a risk of malignant arrhythmias.

saves his life

“A few months ago, during one night, apparently like many others for Mr. Mario, the defibrillator system recognized and interrupted several episodes of life-threatening arrhythmias, saving the patient’s life”, which “He didn’t realize it and didn’t think he needed his cardiologist.; Maybe he doesn’t, but his life-saving device does.”

The alarms sent by the device to the Gemelli control center were detected in real time by Linda Fulcoone of the remote monitoring techniques, who immediately alerted the cardiologist, who urged Mr. Mario to go to the emergency room.

“The patient, still sleepless, did not have any particular disorderbut he did what he was told. Upon arrival at the emergency room, the cardiologists detected an acute heart attack. myocardium in the lower seat,” while an emergency coronary scan revealed “an acute occlusion of the coronary artery.” A percutaneous angioplasty was performed, which saved his life.

“This case demonstrates how remote monitoring offers a wide spectrum of benefits for the patient, in this case the possibility of promptly diagnosing and treating an acute myocardial infarction,” he emphasizes. Gianluigi Bencardinofrom the Gemelli Arrhythmology Unit and first author of the report in the “British Medical Journal Case Reports”.