Disclaimer: This Inside South Florida segment is sponsored by Abbott. All opinions and views are of the advertiser and does not reflect the same of WSFL-TV.
From gift-giving from the heart to technology that can actually help your heart, today we’re spotlighting a medical breakthrough that’s changing lives. For more than 30 years, Boston teacher Karen Pekowitz lived with multiple wire surgeries and the constant fear that comes with traditional pacemakers. Now, thanks to a tiny new wireless device, the world’s first dual-chamber leadless pacemaker, she says she finally feels free.
Karen’s journey began at just 19 years old, when she was diagnosed with complete heart block, a condition where the top and bottom chambers of the heart no longer communicate properly. That caused symptoms like dangerously low heart rates, dizziness, and nausea, which she managed for decades with traditional, wired pacemakers.
Her new device, called the Aveir DR, works differently. It’s completely wireless and implanted through a catheter in a minimally invasive, outpatient procedure. Karen says the implantation took less than a day, required no complicated recovery, and eliminated the worries she had lived with for years about wires, cracking, or repeated surgical issues.
For anyone dealing with similar heart rhythm concerns, Karen encourages patients to talk to their doctors and ask whether the Aveir DR might be an option for them.
You can find more details at cardiovascular.abbott/pacemakers.
