The "donated pacemakers functioned normally at six months, and most importantly there were no device complications such as infections," according to authors of the study.
"In light of the widening health care disparity seen between the industrialized world and developing nations, we feel that pacemaker reuse is an ethical obligation to address the medical needs of those who could not afford therapy otherwise," study co-author Timir S. Baman, MD, cardiology fellow at the U-M Cardiovascular Center, said in a press release.
When Barman and his colleagues asked their heart patients if they would donate their pacemakers after death, more than half said they would. That's when "Project My Heart Your Heart" was born. The project is "a joint collaboration between the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center, Michigan funeral homes, and World Medical Relief, a Detroit-based non-profit organization that specializes in the delivery of used medical equipment."
Pacemakers "can last up to 10 years and cost $10,000 to $50,000," according to the U-M release, which adds that heart disease "is expected to increase 137 percent between 1990 and 2020 for those living in low- and middle- income countries."
U-M says it is "exploring partnerships with the Philippine General, Vietnam Heart Institute in Hanoi, and Komfo Medical Center in Ghana, which is in the process of developing an arrhythmia therapy program, for allocation of used pacemakers," according to the release.
Photo courtesy of stev.ie, via Flickr
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