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Missy and her owner Bob
Teak relax together. Cardiologists recently pronounced Missy
fully cured and have placed no restrictions on her activity
level. Photo by Randy Mertens
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MU
Introduces First
Puppy Pacemaker
By Ann Stratton
Doctors often use animals when testing a new
medical device for use in humans, but at the University of Missouri-Columbia
the latest technology in pacemakers is making its way from humans
to animals. This is one more example of a growing trend to use
human medicine technology to improve the lives of animals.
“Pacemakers in dogs correct the same
abnormalities as they do in people,” said Alan Spier, MU
assistant professor of veterinary cardiology. “We receive
many phone calls from people with pacemakers, or their family
members, expressing desire to donate the pacemakers after the
individual’s death. Many people feel strongly that this
is an important gesture.”
There are no pacemakers made specifically
for veterinary use. Devices used by the Animal Teaching Hospital
are either units with good battery life that have been removed
from human patients or donated by a manufacturing company after
the pacemakers’ shelf expiration date has passed.
Missy’s post-surgical
X-ray shows the implanted pacemaker. A dual-chamber pacemaker
identical to the implanted one sits on top of the X-ray.
Photo by Randy Mertens
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Missy, an English springer spaniel, recently
became the first Missouri dog to receive an explant dual chamber
pacemaker. The pacemaker was previously in a human. Unlike the
commonly used single chamber pacemakers, which only restores the
heart rate, double chamber pacemakers also synchronize the atria
and ventricles.
Dogs needing pacemakers are typically older,
with the average age being about nine years. The device should
extend Missy’s life for another three to five years. The
best candidates for this $2,000 operation have hearts in reasonably
good shape and have no other illnesses, such as cancer, that would
otherwise shorten their life span.
“Missy was a textbook case for an operation
that is becoming common in veterinary cardiology, said Deborah
Fine, assistant professor of veterinary
medicine. “The surgery is mildly invasive and when dogs
walk out of the hospital they are essentially cured with only
a small incision.”
There are only 110 board certified veterinary
cardiologists worldwide; 80 of these cardiologists work in the
United States. Two of them, Spier and Fine, are at the MU
Animal Teaching Hospital.
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Last Update:
March 12, 2007
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