A team at New York City-based NYU Langone successfully implanted the world's smallest pacemaker into a newborn baby suffering from a congenital complete heart block.
The pacemaker, which is about the size of a vitamin, had to be adapted for use in the newborn patient's heart. The device is FDA approved for use in adults, requiring the NYU Langone team to receive approval for emergency use before being implanted, according to a Feb. 13 news release from the health system.
The patient was born prematurely Dec. 5, 2024, and the procedure was performed Dec. 17, by T.K. Susheel Kumar, MD, and Reina Tan, MD, the release said.
Dr. Kumar is a pediatric cardiac surgeon in New York City-based Hassenfeld Children's Hospital's Pediatric Congenital Heart Program and an associate professor in NYU Grossman School of Medicine's department of cardiothoracic surgery, also in New York City. Dr. Tan is a pediatric cardiologist and electrophysiologist at Hassenfeld Children's Hospital and an assistant professor in the division of pediatric cardiology in NYU Grossman School of Medicine's department of pediatrics.
The patient is one of 52 babies in the U.S. to receive the adapted pacemaker. He recovered at Hassenfeld Children's Hospital's congenital cardiovascular care unit and was discharged home Jan. 2, the release said.