First Defibrillating Pacemaker Implanted in Cuban Province

HOLGUIN, Cuba, Jan 15 (acn) The first permanent defibrillating pacemaker implanted in Cuba outside Havana is carried by Alvaro Morgado Martínez, an 82-year old patient from Holguin who suffers from a malignant heart condition.

Morgado's surgery was recently performed at the Vladimir Ilich Lenin hospital in the eastern city of Holguin by Cuban cardiologists Elier Ricardo and Roberto Zayas. After the successful operation the patient was released from the hospital and is now successfully recovering at home.

Dr. Ricardo told the press that such a procedure had been only performed in Havana's Cardiology Institute of Havana previously.

Permanent defibrillating heart pacemakers detect heart arrhythmias and automatically treat them with electrical shocks avoiding the patient's death by restoring the cardiac rhythm.

The implant of each pacemaker, which is performed at no cost to the Cuban patient, is valued from 8 to 12,000 Euros, including the surgical procedure and the pre- and post-surgery care.

Lorenzo Llerena, president of the Cuban Cardiology Society, said the implant of the first automatic defibrillator in Holguin shows the steady development in the specialty reached in the province.

Implantado en Holguín primer marcapaso desfibrilador