Eleven heart patients may have been fitted with faulty American pacemakers that might have to be replaced, the Hospital Authority said yesterday.
St Jude Medical, a pacemaker manufacturer based in St Paul, Minnesota, has warned that the batteries on four models of its Tempo pacemaker as well as a model of the Meta pacemaker could run out of power prematurely.
The patients were fitted with Tempo pacemakers model 1102, 1902, 2102, 2902 and the 1256D Meta model at Grantham Hospital, Prince of Wales, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary hospitals between December 1998 and March this year.
'All patients - or family, as two patients are out of town at present - implanted with the affected pacemaker models have been contacted by the relevant hospitals for follow-up consultation,' an authority spokesman said.
'Patients will be clinically assessed to determine follow-up treatment plans, including the need to replace the pacemakers as a precautionary measure.' Both St Jude Medical and the authority said the decision on whether to replace the pacemakers should be made case by case by doctors.
Patients significantly dependent on the pulse generators have been advised to replace them unless their doctors advise otherwise.
