The CUHC told Lusa that the operation was conducted recently by two of its doctors and “marks a new stage in treating cardiac arrhythmia ".

"Unlike a conventional pacemaker, this new device is implanted directly on the heart through a minimally invasive operation and does not need any leads, which are the main reason for complications in the long term", the hospital said in a communiqué.

The new device is placed on the heart using a catheter inserted into a vein at the top of the patient’s leg and is fixed to the heart wall so it can be repositioned if necessary.

Despite its small size, the battery lasts about 10 years on average.

The small device "responds to the patient’s level of activity and adjusts automatically to each person and even lets the users have access to advanced diagnostics, since it is compatible with magnetic resonance".