So doctors decided to try a different approach, and in early March, Mrs. Bamburg became the first patient in Georgia and among the first in the nation to be implanted with Transoma Medical’s Sleuth ECG Monitoring System - the first wireless implantable system for long-term monitoring of electrocardiogram data. In less than three weeks, Mrs. Bamburg had another fainting spell, and doctors were able to discover through this new device that she occasionally had a dangerously slow heartbeat. In late March the Sleuth was removed, and she received a pacemaker.

 “Cardiovascular conditions are often the underlying cause of unexplained fainting episodes, which makes an accurate and timely diagnosis crucial for the patient,” said Dr. Robert Sorrentino, Associate Chief of Cardiovascular Medicine for MCGHealth, who performed both procedures on Mrs. Bamburg. “Advanced wireless diagnostic tools that collect ECG data allowed me to continually review Mrs. Bamburg’s results, even though she lives in Sandersville. Because the Sleuth recorder provided us with more thorough information by constantly monitoring her heart, we were able to identify the cause and treat her condition.”

The ECG data revealed that Mrs. Bamburg’s heart was periodically slowing to just 10 or 15 beats per minute. “That’s enough to knock anyone off their feet, and quickly,” Dr. Sorrentino said.  “She would have had extremely labored breathing and would have become very weak. And as she reported to us, it caused her to faint several times.”

The risk of this type of fainting increases with age and is becoming more common. In the United States, fainting accounts for 3 percent of emergency room visits and 6 percent of hospital admissions. Fainting can be caused by a variety of conditions, including primarily cardiovascular conditions, metabolic disorders, neurological conditions, and emotional distress.  However, for approximately one-third of all patients who faint, a cause cannot be identified with standard testing, which made the Sleuth a viable option for Mrs. Bamburg.

The Sleuth is a thin medical device about the size of a 50-cent coin that is placed under the skin on the chest. The device continuously gathers ECG data, and then automatically and regularly wirelessly transmits it to a monitoring center. Certified cardiac technicians triage the data and send reports of relevant cardiac event results to the physician.  Patients and physicians no longer need to wait for periodically scheduled office visits - typically every three months - or trips to the ER to obtain diagnostic data.

Mrs. Bamburg was in the produce section at her local Wal-Mart in mid-March when she nearly fainted for what should be her last time.

“The technicians called me; then e-mailed me Mrs. Bamburg’s data. I immediately knew that a pacemaker was the answer for her,” Dr. Sorrentino said.

“I’m just glad I’ll be able to do things again,” Mrs. Bamburg said after receiving her pacemaker.  “With the fainting before, I was afraid to leave the house many times, and I couldn’t drive. I came to the hospital a 69-year-old, but I am leaving a 49-year-old,” she said. “I got my life back.”

 
Dr. Robert Sorrentino

For more information visit, mcghealth.org/cardio
or call 706-721-CARE (2273).