1 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Aug 1
Summary
A 21-second cardiac pause during a 2014 tilt-table test led doctors to diagnose Janet Mercel with malignant neurocardiogenic syncope after years of unexplained collapses, mistaken epilepsy and anxiety treatment.
The severe reflex disorder repeatedly drove her heart rate and blood pressure dangerously low, causing loss of consciousness as often as three times a week despite otherwise strong fitness and marathon training.
Mercel entered a clinical trial for a leadless pacemaker—later FDA-approved in 2016—and received the capsule-size device in a procedure that took less than an hour.
The implant sharply reduced, but did not eliminate, fainting because it can prevent heart pauses but not blood-pressure drops; she also faced early complications including bleeding and deep vein thrombosis.
Now 43, Mercel has scaled back marathon running, manages triggers more carefully and said the treatment ultimately let her regain stability, including giving birth to a daughter in 2022.