FDA Approves Medtronic's Leadless Pacemaker To Treat Heart Rhythm Disorders

(RTTNews) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said that it approved the first pacemaker that does not require the use of wired leads to provide an electrical connection between the pulse-generating device and the heart. While the Micra Transcatheter Pacing System works like other pacemakers to regulate heart rate, the self-contained, inch-long device is implanted directly in the right ventricle chamber of the heart. The Micra device is manufactured by Medtronic (MDT).

"We are thrilled to be the first to introduce a transcatheter pacemaker to patients in the U.S., and we're looking forward to working with physicians and educating implanters to extend the positive results of our global clinical trial experience to even more patients," said John Liddicoat, M.D., senior vice president, Medtronic, and president of the Cardiac Rhythm and Heart Failure division.

Micra is contraindicated for patients who have implanted devices that would interfere with the pacemaker, who are severely obese, or who have an intolerance to materials in the device or the blood thinner heparin. It is also contraindicated for patients with veins that are unable to accommodate the 7.8 millimeter introducer sheath or pacemaker implant.

The FDA said it evaluated data from a clinical trial of 719 patients implanted with the Micra device, which found that 98 percent of patients in the trial had adequate heart pacing (known as pacing capture threshold) six months after the device was implanted. Complications occurred in fewer than 7 percent of participants in the clinical trials and included prolonged hospitalizations, blood clots in the legs (deep vein thrombosis) and lungs (pulmonary embolism), heart injury, device dislocation and heart attacks.

The company noted that Micra Transcatheter Pacing System or TPS is attached to the heart with small tines and delivers electrical impulses that pace the heart through an electrode at the end of the device. Unlike traditional pacemakers, the Micra TPS does not require leads or a surgical "pocket" under the skin, so potential sources of complications related to such leads and pocket are eliminated-as are any visible signs of the device. The device responds to patients' activity levels by automatically adjusting therapy.

The company said that Micra TPS is the first and only transcatheter pacing system to be approved for both 1.5 and 3 Tesla full-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, providing patients with access to the most advanced imaging diagnostic procedures available.