Mikey DeTemple is many things.
A photographer, renowned for his work across fashion, sports and consumer goods. A filmmaker, documenting subjects of his own interests and those of major brands. A sailor, having grown up by the water on Long Island, N.Y. But what has dominated his life and challenged him most has been surfing.
As a professional surfer, DeTemple competed around the globe, pursuing a passion that, as he put it, “people spend their life searching for.” Nowadays, you can still find him splitting time between the east and west coasts, surfing at least five times a week.
But there was a time — decades, even — where that would have felt impossible. And like waiting for a perfect wave — it took a lot of patience and perseverance to get him to where he is now.
After being diagnosed at age 11 with third-degree heart block, a condition where the heart beats much slower than normal because the upper and lower chambers are blocked and can’t properly communicate to maintain a steady a heart rhythm, Mikey continued to live a normal life, as he was considered to be asymptomatic. Still, he knew he would eventually need a pacemaker.
At 19, he realized what that meant for him. He received the first of so many traditional pacemakers that he eventually lost count. Though they helped treat his condition, they also brought uncertainty to his ascendant surfing career. Each surgery kept him out of the water, not allowing him to raise his arms — crucial to paddling — for four to six weeks.
He now acknowledges that the number of pacemakers he needed removed and replaced was likely a result of his love for surfing. Fractures and other complications with leads (the wires that connect a traditional pacemaker to the heart), were most likely a result of the intense paddling surfing entailed. Lead fractures are more common in younger people with pacemakers, because of their active lifestyles.
“That’s a difficult thing to wrap your head around,” he said. “Every time you go to do something you love, you’re actually destroying yourself.”
At points, he even had to give up surfing, making the mental battle of living with a heart condition feel as insurmountable as the physical one.
And his approximately annual replacement of his traditional pacemakers, paired with being able to feel equipment in his chest while surfing and the subsequent pain he’d experience after being on the water, felt a lot like paddling your hardest, catching a wave, and getting knocked right off your feet time and time again. Fortunately, DeTemple is no stranger to that feeling. He kept searching for a solution.
Finally, about two decades after receiving his first pacemaker, he learned of a new option that, in his doctor’s own words, “was meant for him.”
The option that would become his solution is our AVEIR DR leadless pacemakers — the first dual-chamber leadless (meaning wireless, designed without the leads that created challenges for Mikey) pacemaker system approved by the FDA in 2023.
“It was the first time in years I felt hopeful that I would get my quality of life back,” he said.
Having walked into that appointment not knowing that this technology even existed, he walked out confident that this technology would give him his life back.
Now, post-implantation with the AVEIR DR system, “I have no limitations,” he said.
Gone were the wires that made paddling so painful for him. When DeTemple lays on his board now, he doesn’t feel equipment in his chest. No restrictions. No numbness. No setbacks.
He is free to keep going after the perfect wave, with nothing holding him back from the many things that make him his best self.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
AVEIR™ DR Dual Chamber Leadless Pacemaker System
Rx Only
Brief Summary: Prior to using these devices, please review the Instructions for Use for a complete listing of indications, contraindications, warnings, precautions, potential adverse events and directions for use.
Indications: The AVEIR™ Leadless Pacemaker system is indicated for management of one or more of the following permanent conditions: Syncope, Pre-syncope, Fatigue, Disorientation. Rate-modulated pacing is indicated for patients with chronotropic incompetence, and for those who would benefit from increased stimulation rates concurrent with physical activity. Dual-chamber pacing is indicated for patients exhibiting: Sick sinus syndrome, Chronic, symptomatic second- and third-degree AV block, Recurrent Adams-Stokes syndrome, Symptomatic bilateral bundle-branch block when tachyarrhythmia and other causes have been ruled out. Atrial pacing is indicated for patients with: Sinus node dysfunction and normal AV and intraventricular conduction systems. Ventricular pacing is indicated for patients with: Significant bradycardia and normal sinus rhythm with only rare episodes of AV block or sinus arrest, Chronic atrial fibrillation, Severe physical disability. MR Conditional: The AVEIR Leadless Pacemaker is conditionally safe for use in the MRI environment and according to the instructions in the MRI-Ready Leadless System Manual.
Intended Use: The AVEIR Leadless Pacemaker (LP) is designed to provide bradycardia pacing as a pulse generator with built-in battery and electrodes for implantation in the right ventricle and/or right atrium. The LP is intended to provide sensing of intrinsic cardiac signals and delivery of cardiac pacing therapy within the implanted chamber for the target treatment group. The LP is also intended to operate optionally with another co-implanted LP to provide dual-chamber pacing therapy.
The AVEIR™ Delivery Catheter is intended to be used in the peripheral vasculature and the cardiovascular system to deliver and manipulate an LP. Delivery and manipulation includes implanting an LP within the target chamber of the heart.
Contraindications: Use of the AVEIR Leadless Pacemaker is contraindicated in these cases:
Use of any pacemaker is contraindicated in patients with a co-implanted ICD because high-voltage shocks could damage the pacemaker and the pacemaker could reduce shock effectiveness.
Single-chamber ventricular demand pacing is relatively contraindicated in patients who have demonstrated pacemaker syndrome, have retrograde VA conduction, or suffer a drop in arterial blood pressure with the onset of ventricular pacing.
Programming of rate-responsive pacing is contraindicated in patients with intolerance of high sensor driven rates.
Use is contraindicated in patients with an implanted vena cava filter or mechanical tricuspid valve because of interference between these devices and the delivery system during implantation.
Persons with known history of allergies to any of the components of this device may suffer an allergic reaction to this device. Prior to use on the patient, the patient should be counseled on the materials (listed in the Product Materials section of the IFU) contained in the device and a thorough history of allergies must be discussed.
Adverse Events: Potential complications associated with the use of the AVEIR Leadless Pacemaker system are the same as with the use of single or dual chamber pacemakers with active fixation pacing leads including, but not limited to: Cardiac perforation, Cardiac tamponade, Pericardial effusion, Pericarditis, Endocarditis, Valve damage or regurgitation, Heart failure, Pneumothorax/hemothorax, Cardiac arrhythmias, Diaphragmatic/phrenic nerve stimulation / extra-cardiac stimulation, Palpitations, Hypotension, Syncope, Cerebrovascular accident, Infection, Hypersensitivity reaction to device materials, contrast media, medications, or direct toxic effect of contrast media on kidney function, Pacemaker syndrome, Inability to interrogate or program the LP due to programmer or LP malfunction, Intermittent or complete loss of capture, pacing or sensing (non-battery related), Oversensing, Increased capture threshold, Inappropriate sensor response, Corrupted, intermittent, or loss of i2i communications, Interruption of desired LP function due to electrical interference, either electromyogenic or electromagnetic, Battery malfunction/ premature battery depletion, Device-related complications (Premature deployment, Device dislodgement/embolization of foreign material, Inability to release/re-dock of the LP from the catheter, Helix distortion), Additional surgery or intervention, Death. As with any percutaneous catheterization procedure, potential complications include, but are not limited to: Vascular access complications; such as perforation, dissection, puncture, groin pain, Bleeding or hematoma, Thrombus formation, Thromboembolism, Air embolism, Local and systemic infection, Peripheral nerve damage. General surgery risks and complications from comorbidities; such as dyspnea, respiratory failure, pneumonia, hypertension, cardiac failure, reaction to sedation, renal failure, anemia, and death.
Please be aware that the website you have requested is intended for the residents of a particular country or region, as noted on that site. As a result, the site may contain information on pharmaceuticals, medical devices and other products or uses of those products that are not approved in other countries or regions.
The website you have requested also may not be optimized for your specific screen size.
FOLLOW ABBOTT