Centenarian receives pacemaker

A 106-year-old man has become the oldest person to receive a pacemaker at a major hospital in Shanghai.

The centenarian surnamed Shi was implanted with the device after suffering from serious heart problems. Cao Weimin, a publicity official at East China Hospital affiliated to Fudan University in Shanghai, said on Tuesday that though the patient has difficulties moving about, he is recovering well.

On May 3, doctors at the hospital found the man's heart rate to be abnormally slow at just 30 beats a minute. He was also found to have a serious atrioventricular block. To complicate matters, Shi also suffers from diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease, renal insufficiency and multiple aorta aneurysms.

Following consultations with medical experts from different departments, Yu Zhuowei, head of East China Hospital, decided to implant a permanent pacemaker in the man. The surgery was conducted together with medical staff from the respiratory, cardiology, endocrinology and anesthesiology units.

The hospital said it performs more than 100 surgeries for people over 90 years old every year.

He Qi contributed to this story.