“Can my body reject a pacemaker?”
My cardiologist recently told me that I need a pacemaker to help regulate my heart. Are there chances that my body could reject the pacemaker?
4 Answers
No. The pacemaker is a mechanical device that in general does not elicit any immune response of the type you’re thinking about when you use the term “rejection.“ But can occasionally/rarely have an infection, but this is not your body rejecting the pacemaker. That does not happen.
Not heard of rejection. Very very rarely infection. If you need the pacemaker, you should do it.
No. This is very, very rare. Since the introduction of implantable pacemakers in the 1950's, there has been less than a handful of pacemaker rejections.
No, you don’t need to worry about “rejecting” a pacemaker. The pacemaker shell is made of inert stainless steel so body does not mount immune response to it. Infection is a rare reason that pacemaker has to be taken out. You need to have regular follow-up visits with a pacemaker clinic to make sure your pacemaker is doing the job that it is expected to do, that the battery life is sufficient, and sometimes it may need to be reprogrammed. Newer pacemakers can be monitored remotely over the phone.
