World’s tiniest pacemaker

The world’s smallest cardiac pacemaker—the Micra Transcatheter Pacing System (TPS)— was found to have significantly fewer major complications than conventional pacing systems in an international clinical trial. Results showed that the Micra TPS, which is comparable in size to a large vitamin, was successfully implanted in nearly all patients, and approximately 96 percent of patients experienced no major complications (51 percent fewer than seen in patients with conventional systems.) Emory Healthcare cardiologists were the first in Georgia and among the first in the country to begin implanting the Micra TPS, which requires no wires or incisions. Emory was the top enrolling U.S. site in the trial. “This will likely be the way pacemakers are implanted in the future,” says Emory site principal investigator Michael Lloyd, a cardiac electrophysiologist and associate professor of medicine. ■

For BP, a little lower is better

A measurement of 120 is probably better than 140 or higher where systolic blood pressure is concerned, according to a major National Institutes of Health clinical trial that included Emory patients.

More intensive management of high blood pressure may help signicantly reduce rates of cardiovascular disease and lower the risk of death among older adults, the study showed. “ e preliminary ndings from the SPRINT trial are impressive and are likely to have a signi cant impact on medical practice as well as future guidelines,” says Emory cardiologist Laurence Sperling, president of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology.

“Evidence that a lower systolic blood pressure target (120 mm Hg) in the population studied reduces major cardiovascular events and death will be critically valuable for the eld of cardiovascular prevention.”

Jennifer Johnson McEwen