Dr. Manouchehr Ziafat, an electrophysiologist, and pacemaker specialist did the first dual-cavity pacemaker implant surgery in Kashan.
By placing a dual-cavity pacemaker in the heart of an 11-year-old child, Dr Manuchehr Ziafat made it possible for her to enjoy better quality life and improve her heart function to be able to return to daily life, like her peers. It has been almost forty days since the operation, and the general state of this young girl is good. Dr Ziafat implanted a dual-cavity pacemaker, which is the first in its kind, with the help of the anesthesia team in the angiography department of Dr. Shahid Beheshti Medical Center in Kashan. He explained: “Previously, a single cavity pacemaker was implanted for this patient at the age of 5 due to a congenital problem in the heart conduction system by performing surgery at a university medical center in Tehran. After 6 years, during a periodic inspection, they found that the pulse generator was not functioning correctly. With the onset of cardiac symptoms, the patient was referred to the center in poor physical condition.”
After reviewing the patient’s record and considering the child’s growth and with the increase in physical activity, with the increased heart rate response she encounters, a more significant heart function is needed, so we tried to upgrade the one-chamber pacemaker system to two, and at the same time maintain proportionate connection between the cardiac cavities, while maintaining the patient’s condition and activities as far as possible similar to a normal heart. Although challenging, it was done for the benefit of this 11-year old girl. The heart’s battery, or pacemaker, can detect the slowing of the heartbeat and send an electric current to the heart, causing a regular, normal heartbeat. The dual-cavity pacemaker can meet the body’s natural needs in proportion and will benefit the patient. This was the most challenging stage. In the future, after the generator’s life, which is usually about 6-7 years, only the pulse generator will be replaced.
Dr Ziafat added: “The point that made this into news was that such operations of placing a dual-cavity pacemaker or upgrading a single-cavity system to dual-cavity or in special cases upgrading a two-cavity system to three-cavity system are easily done for adultsbut for children it has not been done before, and this operation was successfully performed for the first time in Kashan.
Dr. Manouchehr Ziafat, son of Fariba Fereydoni and Iraj Ziafat, born in 1362, spent his junior high school in Rostam Abadian School and his senior high school in Firooz Bahram High School. He graduated from Kashan University with a degree in medicine and completed his specialized studies in cardiology from 1392 to 1396 at the University of Tehran, Tehran Heart Center Hospital, and electrophysiology and pacemaking at the same university and medical center, 1398-99.
