Skip Navigation

European Heart Journal 1984 5(12):993-1003;
Copyright © 1984 by the European Society of Cardiology.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by NATHAN, A. W.
Right arrow Articles by CAMM, A. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by NATHAN, A. W.
Right arrow Articles by CAMM, A. J.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© 1984 The European Society of Cardiology

Steps towards the development of a safe and effective tachycardia terminating pacemaker

A. W. NATHAN, R. A. J. SPURRELL and A. J. CAMM

Department of Cardiology, St Bartholomew's Hospital London EC1A 7BE, U.K.

Address for Correspondence: Dr A. W. Nathan, Department of Caradiology, St Bartholomew's Hospital, West Smithfield, London EC1A 7BE, U.K.

Abstract

Permanent pacemakers have been used for the treatment of tachycardias. For studies have been performed to improve termination algorithms:

1. Permanent extrastimulus pacing was assessed in 19 patients. During follow up of 13 to 36 (mean 27) months, 7 also required additional antiarrhythmic drugs. Pacing was effective in all, but there was one unexplained sudden death.

2. Autodecremental (rate-increasing) atrial pacing was used in 20 patients with junctional arrhythmias. It was effective in all, especially with a burst duration of 5000 ms, and caused no acceleration of tachycardia. In contrast, constant rate overdrive pacing produced atrial flutter or fibrillation in 4 patients.

3. Concertina pacing (up to 7 stimuli) was tried, and was effective, in 19 patients. In three patients, using one or two stimuli of short coupling intervals, atrial arrhythmias were induced. As the number of stimuli were increased, longer pacing cycle lengths became effective.

4. The effect of reset has been suggested as a useful method of searching for the termination zone. Ventricular pacing reliably caused reset, but atrial pacing produced inconsistent results.

These studies show that adaptive, limited burst pacing modes are most effective methods, but reset is not useful in the right atrium.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.