03 mei 2022 – 07:58
Recently, the cardiology department of the Canisius Wilhelmina Hospital implanted a new generation of subcutaneous heart rhythm monitors. This is super small (45 x 7 mm), lasts longer than its predecessor and gives the patient more influence. If he has complaints or does not trust something, he can enter data himself via a linked app and send it to the hospital. This makes CWZ the third hospital in the Netherlands and the first in the Nijmegen region to implant such a smart monitor.
Continuous heart rate monitoring
The heart rhythm monitor is especially suitable for people who regularly faint of unknown cause, have palpitations or to monitor heart rhythm disorders. ‘Because they only occur occasionally, they are difficult to catch in other ways, such as with an ECG (heart film) or a Holter diary that records a maximum of one week,’ says nurse specialist Jan Elders. ‘Because the monitor continuously monitors the heart rhythm and can remain in place for 4.5 years, an abnormality is always registered, even if it occurs rarely. The method is also suitable for people who have been treated for heart rhythm disorders, to check whether the treatment has been successful.’
Patient in ‘driver’s seat’
Another major advantage is the link with complaints that the wearer enters via the app. With the earlier types of monitors, data about the heart rhythm was also sent to the pacemaker outpatient clinic of the hospital, but there was no insight into the relationship with complaints, such as palpitations or dizziness. ‘The patient now enters this information on his telephone, together with information about what he was doing. If he thinks ‘I want to have this checked’, he can forward the data to the CWZ’, says Elders. ‘Thanks to this combination, we have more information than just the medical data from the monitor. That helps in making a diagnosis. Moreover, the patient now has much more influence and can do something himself. He’s in the driver’s seat.
Piece of cake
Placing the monitor is a piece of cake. The operation is done on an outpatient basis. The heart rhythm monitor has a special blade that makes an incision of less than a centimeter in the skin at the level of the heart. Thanks to this special blade, the cut is never too big or too deep. The monitor is pushed into the right place under the skin through this incision. Where the monitor previously only lasted three years, the patient is now ready for 4.5 years. He can go home immediately after the procedure.
Digital assets
‘The implants of these smart monitors fit in with the vision of the CWZ to increasingly use digital resources to provide care at a distance. Moreover, patients now have more control: they themselves can influence the diagnosis-treatment process by using the app’, says Erwin Zegers, cardiologist.
Source: CWZ Nijmegen.
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Editorial Medicalfacts/ Janine Budding
I studied physiotherapy and health care business administration. I am also a registered Independent client supporter and informal care broker. I have a lot of experience in various positions in healthcare, the social domain and the medical, pharmaceutical industry, nationally and internationally. And have broad medical knowledge of most specialties in healthcare. And of the health care laws from which health care is regulated and financed. Every year I attend most of the leading medical conferences in Europe and America to keep my knowledge up-to-date and to keep up with the latest developments and innovations. I am currently doing a Masters in Applied Psychology.
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