Pacemaker Implants
The first pacemaker surgery on a dog was performed in 1968. About 300 pacemakers are implanted in dogs each year, even though about 4000 dogs are in need of one. There are no pacemakers made specifically for use in dogs, but human pacemaker users are often outlasted by their pacemakers, leaving behind a functioning pacemaker with less battery power left than a new pacemaker which could be implanted into a dog. One difficulty in implanting used pacemakers is the removal from the deceased human - the pacemaker leads often experience accumulation of surrounding heart muscle tissue and become difficult to remove after death. If the leads are cut in order to remove the pacemaker donation is not possible. If a pacemaker has not been used by a human but has reached its expiry date it will not be suitable for use in a human but could still be used in a dog.
Read more about this topic: Organ Replacement In Animals
Famous quotes containing the word implants:
“There is a terrible blindness in the love that wants only to accommodate. It’s not only to do with omissions and half-truths. It implants a lack of being in the speaker and robs the self of an identity without which it is impossible for one to grow close to another.”
—Alexander Theroux (b. 1940)