title: State of the art of leadless pacing.
abstract: Despite undisputable benefits, conventional pacemaker therapy is associated with specific complications related to the subcutaneous device and the transvenous leads. Recently, two miniaturized leadless pacemakers, Nanostim™ (St. Jude Medical) and Micra™ (Medtronic), which can be completely implanted inside the right ventricle using steerable delivery systems, entered clinical application. The WiCS™-cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) system (wireless cardiac stimulation for CRT, EBR Systems) delivers leadless left ventricular endocardial stimulation for cardiac resynchronization. In addition to obvious cosmetic benefits, leadless pacing systems may have the potential to overcome some complications of conventional pacing. However, acute and long-term complications still remains to be determined, as well as the feasibility of device explantation years after device placement.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Kerckhoff Heart and Thorax Center, Bad Nauheim, Germany j.sperzel@kerckhoff-klinik.de.
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sperzel
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Service, University Hospital of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Haran
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Burri
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Nouvelles Cliniques Nantaises, Nantes, France.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gras
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Fleur V Y
authors.initials: FV
authors.lastname: Tjong
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Reinoud E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Knops
authors.affiliation: Heart Center, University Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Gerhard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hindricks
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Cardiology, Linz General Hospital, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria.
authors.forename: Clemens
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Steinwender
authors.affiliation: Arrythmia Unit, Cardiology Department, University Hospital of Grenoble, Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Defaye
mesh_terms: D062906:Cardiac Catheters / Q000009:adverse effects*; D058409:Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Devices / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000145:classification*; D004699:Endocardium / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004867:Equipment Design; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Catheter delivery; Leadless pacing; Pacemaker