13th International Congress
THE "NEW FRONTIERS"
OF ARRHYTHMIAS 1998

January 24-31, 1998
Marilleva, Trento, Italy

RT-149

Are paroxysmal atrial flutter or fibrillation at the time of implantation absolute contraindications for implantation of a dual chamber pacemaker?

Domenico Zanuttini, Fabio Zardo, Marco Brieda, Nereo Meneguzzo, Enzo Hrovatin, Delia Zadnik.
Department of Cardiology-ARC, Azienda Sanitaria "S.M. degli Angeli", Pordenone, Italy

Introduction

The management of atrial flutter (AF) or fibrillation (af) during DDD stimulation is still controversial.

Recurrent episodes of AF or af are reported to be reduced during long-term DDD pacing as compared to patients (pts) treated with a VVI pacemaker^3,4. However, previous episodes of AF or af are regarded to represent relative contraindications to DDD stimulation, even in pts in sinus rhythm at the time of implantation⁵.

However authors^6-8 have suggested that previous occurrence of atrial arrhythmias represent a limited problem and does not conclusively preclude pacemaker multifunctions.

This study summarises our experience with 14 pts with symptomatic bradyarrhythmias in whom a dual chamber pacemaker was implanted despite the sudden onset of AF or af at the time of implantation.