Pacemaker follow up guidelines for physicians.

Use of pacemakers has become fairly common even in developing country like India. Implantation of appropriate pacemakers, their optimal programming to exploit the various available function and their trouble shooting requires advanced training and should preferably be carried out by specifically trained cardiologists or cardiac electrophysiologists. However internists and general physicians should familiarize themselves with certain basic functions of pacemaker, and must acquire the knowledge needed to follow up the patients with pacemakers. They also should be able to assess the patients and ascertain whether the particular patient needs to be referred to the trained cardiologist for further evaluation or replacement of pacemaker. This article is aimed at providing such information to the noncardiologist physicians.