Mini-ECG The smallest ECG used by a patient

Mini ECG saves lives

09/03/2014

In the Bavarian town of Aichach, the smallest ECG in the world has been used for a woman. With this mini-ECG, the doctors can monitor the heart rhythm of the patient easily and permanently. Cardiac arrhythmias can cause a stroke and therefore the novel device can be vital.

Smallest ECG in the world
A 59-year-old woman from the Bavarian Egenhofen in the district of Fürstenfeldbruck was now a mini-heart monitor used in the Aichacher hospital, as the Augsburger Allgemeine reported. The patient, who suffers from cardiac arrhythmia, often had to deal with complaints such as dizziness, pain in her arm, or nausea. With this medical novelty that Dr. Eimo Martens has used, the doctor can monitor the heart rhythm of the patient Kerstin Landgraf easily and permanently. According to the information provided by the clinics in the couple, this is the smallest ECG in the world.

Hundreds of thousands with cardiac arrhythmias
Ms. Landgraf did not feel taken seriously by doctors for a long time and said: „Since 1993 I have been with different doctors and it has always been said that everything is alright.“ As the head of the Department of Internal Medicine and Cardiology of the clinics at the couple in Aichach and Friedberg, Dr. med. Heiko Methe, said, he has often heard similar stories of suffering. In Germany, hundreds of thousands of people suffer from cardiac arrhythmias, which in the worst case could also be responsible for a stroke. The heart rhythm is recorded on a conventional ECG machine for up to seven days. But Methe explained that doctors often could not capture the disorders. In the last few years, doctors have therefore begun to use event recorders for the patients, who permanently record cardiac activity. These devices, which are about the size of a lighter, are used under local anesthesia under the skin next to the breastbone.

The procedure takes five to ten minutes
This intricate procedure has become much easier with the new mini heart monitors, which are only one-third the size of an AAA battery. And so Martens explained that he made only a small incision to push the mini-ECG under the skin of the patient. The entire procedure took only five to ten minutes and patients could leave the clinic the same day. The doctor used the device at the end of February, and now a transmitter sends her data every night to the clinic, where Martens evaluates it. The transmitter is a small device in the patient's home that is wirelessly connected to the mini-ECG. The older, larger event recorder had to be read every three months in the hospital with another device.

Diagnosis much faster possible
Martens talks about the advantages of the new device: „If a cardiac arrhythmia occurs in patients with the mini heart monitor, we can now make a diagnosis much faster than before and also initiate adequate therapy.“ According to him, the procedure including the home care costs about 2,800 euros, which are paid by the health insurance. Because the mini-ECG's battery lasts up to four years, patients can be monitored over a long period of time. The device can also be removed with a small intervention. Patients with an implanted mini-ECG could even be examined in an MRI or MRI, if necessary, without having to remove the device. (Ad)

Image: Medtronic GmbH