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Medtronic, Inc. (Minneapolis, MN, U.S.) has announced the European market release of the high-energy Intrinsic(TM) implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD), which is said to be the world's first ICD with Managed Ventricular Pacing (MVP) (TM). MVP is a new pacing mode designed to promote natural heart activity by minimizing unnecessary right ventricular pacing, which is accomplished by automatically switching between single- and dual-chamber pacing based on specific patient needs.
Medtronic received the CE Mark for this device on May 4.
Recent clinical studies have shown that excessive ventricular pacing may be harmful to some patients, possibly leading to heart failure. The Intrinsic ICD was specifically developed for patients who are at risk for sudden cardiac arrest and need the protection of an ICD, but whose electrical conduction may be normal and require little or no pacing.
Using beat-to-beat verification of a patient's natural electrical conduction system, the MVP mode allows the device to provide dual-chamber pacing of the right ventricle when needed, but it automatically switches to atrial pacing as its primary therapy when normal heart conduction is present.
"Because of the MVP mode capability, the Intrinsic ICD meets an important clinical need for physicians and I expect it to be of significant benefit for my patients," said Dr. Francis Murgatroyd, King's College Hospital, London, U.K. "By minimizing right ventricular stimulation but still retaining the safety of dual-chamber pacing as a backup, this device offers implanting physicians the best of both worlds."
With the MVP mode, automatic switching between dual-chamber pacing and single-chamber atrial pacing (known as AAI pacing) can reduce the amount of ventricular pacing to less than 5 percent, compared to 50 percent or more with typical dual-chamber pacing.
The device has 35 joules of energy, is 38 cc in size, and has a typical longevity of up to 8 years.
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