A paradigm shift in cardiac pacing therapy?

Challenges in cardiac resynchronization therapy-defibrillator upgrade in a patient with right pneumonectomy.

A new paradigm for physiologic ventricular pacing.

Clinical trials in patients with pacemakers for sinus node dysfunction or atrioventricular block (AVB) and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators provide increasing evidence showing that desynchronization of ventricular electrical activation and contraction, induced by conventional right ventricular apex (RVA) pacing, is a serious threat for long-term cardiac morbidity and mortality. The risk ...

[Antitachycardia pacing efficacy significantly improves with cardiac resynchronization therapy].

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES The effect of cardiac resynchronization therapy on antitachycardia pacing still has to be determined. PATIENTS AND METHOD A total of 490 heart failure patients with an indication for an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator participated in the VENTAK CHF/CONTAK CD study, a single-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study. We compared antitachycardia pacing effic...

High impedance leads and safety margin. Electrical considerations based on a simplified expression of the 'paradigm'.

For physicians who are not familiar with the electrical basis of cardiac stimulation, high impedance leads previously (10 years ago) considered as bad electrodes (high voltage) are now considered as the 'epitome' of lead technology (low energy drain): clearly impedance is not a good parameter for characterizing the qualities of a pacing lead. Using a simplified approach to the electrostimulatio...

The effects of right ventricular apical pacing on ventricular function and dyssynchrony implications for therapy.

Cardiac pacing is the only effective treatment for patients with sick sinus syndrome and atrioventricular conduction disorders. In cardiac pacing, the endocardial pacing lead is typically positioned at the right ventricular (RV) apex. At the same time, there is increasing indirect evidence, derived from large pacing mode selection trials and observational studies, that conventional RV apical pa...