The lithium iodide--powered cardiac pacemaker. Clinical experience with 250 implantations.

A long-life cardiac pulse generator powered by the lithium-iodide fuel cell is described and our experience with 250 implantations is documented. The compact, hermetically sealed pulse generator unit is easily implanted, is reliable, and is well accepted by patients. There have been no pacemaker-related deaths and only minimal morbidity. There was a single instance of electrical circuit failure of the pulse generator early in our experience; however, to date, after 15.9 months' average follow-up representing 3.988 patient months of cardiac pacing, there have been no battery failures and no further electrical component failures. The pulse generator unit is now guaranteed by the manufacturer for 6 years. We believe that the lithium-iodide powered pacemaker represents a significant advance in pacemaker generator technology and is recommended for long-term cardiac pacing.