Medical Design and Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • Med Tech Resources
    • Subscribe to Print Magazine
    • DeviceTalks Tuesdays
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • The Big 100
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Video
  • 2022 Leadership in MedTech
    • 2022 Leadership Voting!
    • 2021 Winners
    • 2020 Winners
  • Women in Medtech

Surgeons Create ‘Vacuum’ Procedure To Remove Infected Pacemaker

September 6, 2017 By University of South Florida

Pacemakers help people live longer, active lives. They’re also often worn for decades at a time. But a pacemaker’s wiring could get infected, and the signs are too similar to typical ailments. It’s something 68-year-old Richard Agger of Brandon, Florida experienced first-hand while trying to treat what he thought was a bacterial infection.

“The pacemaker had an infection on it, the wires had an infection on it. I had these other wires in for 12 years, they were eaten away,” Agger says.

“The attachment of the hardwire or attachment leads makes it difficult because as we remove the leads, the large foreign body attaches to it, the fungal ball. It can dislodge and cause cardiac pulmonary arrest,” said University of South Florida electrophysiologist Dr. Ray Cutro.

Cutro and Dr. David Wilson are assistant professors of cardiology and co-directors of the lead management program at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. Out of the hundreds of complex operations performed, they say this one required extensive teamwork and creativity.

“I had five infections. The infections broke off and were at the top of my heart and the top of my lungs and they had to use this new procedure to vacuum out those pieces which were as big as ice cubes,” Agger says.

Dr. David Wilson uses his smartphone to explain the patient’s infected pacemaker wires. (Image credit: Ryan Noone/USF Health)

“The AngioVac is almost like a Shop-Vac or Wet-Vac you can use within blood vessels and it’s something that could suck anything out immediately in front of it in liters per minute,” Wilson said.

The device is typically used to remove foreign objects or a blood clot, not such a fragile infection like Richard’s.

“It’s definitely unique,” Cutro says.

“The USF people gave me the team approach, diagnosed me, fixed me, saved my life. I made it to the hospital just in time. I was septic, you know what happens when you’re septic? You die! They saved my life, I just made it. End of story,” Agger says.

“It puts in perspective everything that we are doing. Like every other profession there are days where the hours or stress may get to you. But having these positive success stories and really impacting someone’s life, makes it all worth it,” Cutro says.

Cutro and Wilson encourage patients with a pacemaker who have a nagging illness to get checked for infected wires. It is very rare, but those with diabetes, kidney disease and other conditions are at greatest risk.

Related Articles Read More >

Wire mesh that has captured a blood clot
How an Embotrap stent retriever thrombectomy treats ischemic strokes
A team of doctors use the Hemafuse device to collect and filter a surgery patient's blood
Autotranfusion device maker ships units to Ukraine
A close-up photo of a human eye
Proposed 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule could have a big impact on glaucoma surgeries
Avail Medsystems
How Avail Medsystems seeks to create a connected OR experience

DeviceTalks Weekly.

August 5, 2022
DTW Medtronic's Greg Smith lays out supply chain strategies
See More >

MDO Digital Edition

Digital Edition

Subscribe to Medical Design & Outsourcing. Bookmark, share and interact with the leading medical design engineering magazine today.

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.
DeviceTalks

DeviceTalks is a conversation among medical technology leaders. It's events, podcasts, webinars and one-on-one exchanges of ideas & insights.

DeviceTalks

New MedTech Resource

Medical Tubing

Enewsletter Subscriptions

Enewsletter Subscriptions

MassDevice

Mass Device

The Medical Device Business Journal. MassDevice is the leading medical device news business journal telling the stories of the devices that save lives.

Visit Website
MDO ad
Medical Design and Outsourcing
  • MassDevice
  • DeviceTalks
  • MedTech100 Index
  • Medical Tubing + Extrusion
  • Medical Design Sourcing
  • Drug Delivery Business News
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing World
  • R&D World
  • About Us/Contact
  • Advertise With Us
  • Subscribe to Print Magazine
  • Subscribe to E-newsletter
  • Attend our Monthly Webinars
  • Listen to our Weekly Podcasts
  • Join our DeviceTalks Tuesdays Discussion

Copyright © 2022 WTWH Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media LLC. Site Map | Privacy Policy | RSS

Search Medical Design & Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • Med Tech Resources
    • Subscribe to Print Magazine
    • DeviceTalks Tuesdays
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • The Big 100
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Video
  • 2022 Leadership in MedTech
    • 2022 Leadership Voting!
    • 2021 Winners
    • 2020 Winners
  • Women in Medtech