Follow up and optimisation of cardiac pacing.

Correspondence to: Dr Paul R Roberts, Southampton University Hospital, Tremona Road, Southampton. SO16 6YD, UK; [email protected]. uk _________________________ P acemaker implantation is only the initial phase in the lifelong management of the patient with a pacemaker. The challenge of this treatment lies in the comprehensive follow up of the device. As the number of implanted devices increases so does the burden of follow up. This is compounded by increasing data provided by devices and increasing sophistication in programming therapy and detection algorithms. There are some general guidelines on pacemaker follow up provided by national organisations, but very little provided in the way of detail. 2 This is reflected in the immense variation in the manner of pacemaker follow up both nationally and internationally. Like most medical interventions pacemaker follow up has to be tailored to the individual. The fundamental principles of pacemaker follow up are listed in table 1.