Dual pacemakers worth the cost

Pricey pacemakers that regulate the heart’s upper and lower chambers separately may be worth the extra cost because they help keep patients out of the hospital.

The fancier dual-chamber models cost about $3,000 more than single-chamber devices and do not help patients live any longer on average, but do save money over time, a government-funded study has found.

“The dual-chamber devices significantly reduced the rates of atrial fibrillation and heart failure hospitalizations, which over the long term results in a highly favorable cost-effectiveness ratio,” said Dr. David Cohen of Harvard Medical School in Boston, who led the study.

Atrial fibrillation is a type of irregular heartbeat that can cause stroke and heart failure. The study appeared in the Jan. 4 online issue of the American Heart Assn. journal Circulation.