PACEMAKERS FOR HEARTS SAVE LIVES
Professor Ashley Chin, cardiologist, University of Cape Town; Emeritus Professor Rob Scott-Millar, cardiologist, University of Cape Town
Wednesday 29 January 7.00 pm COURSE FEES R110; Staff and students R55
This course is directed at those who have a pacemaker and would like to know more about it, those who may or may not need a pacemaker, and doctors who must recognise the lethal slow heart rhythms that require the implantation of a pacemaker. It will also alert people, especially the elderly, to the symptoms and signs which may indicate the need to seek medical help.
The lecture will cover the structure and insertion of a pacemaker and the implications for its use. The most important condition requiring a pacemaker is a complete heart block in which the conduction of the impulse from its origin in the right atrium (upper chamber) to the ventricles (lower pumping chambers) is interrupted. The result is either complete cardiac standstill with a blackout from the lack of blood to the brain, or sudden death. The patients we see have survived because the pacemaker in the lower chambers has kicked in with a slow rate (less than 40/minute). The clinical and ECG diagnosis of this will be discussed as well as other indications. We will talk about the origins of pacing, pacing as a barometer of health care in South Africa, living with a pacemaker and some of the new developments of pacing.
A handout, Cardiac pacemakers – an overview, will be provided to participants.
Recommended reading
Millar, R.S. and Chin, A. 2022. ‘ECG Quiz 66’. SA Heart Journal. Vol. 19, no. 1. Health professionals can earn CPD points for this course.
TO BOOK: https://www.webtickets.co.za/v2/performance.aspx?itemid=1554934690