Mountain Vista Medical Center, a Steward Health Care Family Hospital at 1301 S. Crismon Road in Mesa, has implanted a single-chamber leadless pacemaker that offers a unique mapping capability for seamless implantation and retrieval.

This state-of-the-art cardiovascular technology is only available at Mountain Vista in the East Valley, according to a release.

“It’s just one more cutting-edge procedure offered as part of Mountain Vista’s top-notch cardiovascular services program,” Dr. Himanshu Shukla, founder of the Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute, said in the release.

The Averi VR leadless pacemaker is inserted through the groin and is retractable, making the ongoing care of the device much easier for the patient, as well as cosmetically attractive with not having the traditional wires and hardwire. The battery life is twice as long as the current leadless pacemaker which reduces the number of procedures needed to maintain the device, lowering infection risk for the patient, the release states.

Shukla implanted the hospital’s first Averi pacemaker recently and patient Harry Bowman couldn’t be more grateful. Recently diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, congestive heart failure and sleep apnea, Bowman was told he was a great candidate for the new pacemaker and that it would help him keep up with his active lifestyle. A very busy 87-year-old who didn’t want to stop living life and doing his volunteer work, he was excited to be a recipient.

“It’s great to be one of the first people in the East Valley to have access to this new technology,” Bowman said in the release. “I’m feeling great and happy that there haven’t been all the traditional restrictions that you normally have with the implant of a pacemaker. I’m already back to my old self.”

Mountain Vista Medical Center is a nationally certified primary stroke and cardiac receiving center. For information about Mountain Vista Medical Center and its cardiology service program, go to mvmedicalcenter.org.