University of Miami Hospital First in South Florida to Implant Newly Approved Smallest Insertable Cardiac Monitor

Demonstrating further expertise in the cardiac field, a physician at the University of Miami Hospital (UMH) has become the first in South Florida to implant the world’s smallest cardiac monitoring device into a patient. Raul D. Mitrani, M.D., Director of Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology at UHealth, the University of Miami Health System, successfully implanted the Reveal LINQ™ Insertable Cardiac Monitor (ICM) from Medtronic into patient Christopher Clark on February 28 in the Elaine and Sydney Sussman Catheterization Laboratory at UMH.

 

Approved by the FDA just four days before the procedure, the Reveal LINQ™ is approximately one-third the size of an AAA battery, making it more than 80 percent smaller than other ICMs currently available. The size of the device means insertion just under the skin requires only local anesthetic and an incision of less than one inch. In addition, it allows physicians to continuously and wirelessly monitor a patient’s heart for up to three years, provides remote monitoring, and notifies physicians if patients have significant cardiac events between regular medical appointments.

 

“The device is much less invasive for the patient and takes only a few minutes to implant since the implant involves little more than an injection under the skin,” said Mitrani. “This heart rhythm monitoring device provides us with the ability to see what is happening to his heart rhythm over a long period of time. In this way, we can provide the patient with the most effective therapy for his or her heart rhythm disorder.”

 

The device has the ability to communicate wirelessly with the physician using the MyCareLink™ Patient Monitor, alerting physicians when a patient experiences a cardiac event. The Reveal LINQ™ can be used for patients who have symptoms such as dizziness, palpitations, fainting, and chest pain that suggests cardiac arrhythmia.