??s about my first Pacing Report

My #s 8 days post-op Medtronic Kappa KDR401
DDDR mode-on

AS -VS 39.3%
AS -VP 0.3
AP-VS 56.9
AP -VP 3.4

My question is - How much am I pacing? According to the Nurse who ran the tests I am pacing 56.9% in the atrial and 3.4% in the ventrical. My diagnosis was chronotropic incompetence and SSS, and I saw a note in my hospital chart about sinusbradycaria...

I saw some recent posts from Frank and Inga and I was hoping for some feedback on my numbers.

Thank you all so much. As I'm sure that many of you know, it's really hard to go through this alone and sometimes I wonder if I'm fully understanding what the doctors are telling me. As suggested on this message board, I did get a copy of my Initial Interrogation Report. I'm set for another office visit in 3 months and then scheduled for home-monitoring downloading every 3 months next year.
It sure seems odd to be labeled "incompetent", have an "interrogation report" and then be "home monitored" ..... I wonder if this will also go on my permanent record and I may not get into a good college (just kidding - I'm 59 years old and trying to weather the economic storm and stay retired).
Thanks in advance for any input - I am very appreciative of this site and all of you who contribute to this forum.
Best regards,
Milo

4 Comments

Pacing ? Excitement & Gratitude

by milosax - 2009-08-15 02:08:31

First of all, THANK YOU Inga for writing to me - I sincerely appreciate it.
I was wondering if the 56% pacing is typical. I have no idea what the common range may be. I am feeling so very much better - I feel less out of breath, and my energy flow feels so much higher. I do feel the PM little shocks, they are interesting, but not bothersome.
I really feel so much more alive and its like I'm resonating at a higher and clearer vibration and am amazed at the impact and am filled with gratitude. Do many people get this kind of response from PMs - and does it continue to feel so great, or is there a tendency for the body to just acclimate and for us to take it for granted (like getting new glasses and seeing so much better at first and then a month later it's not still feeling like a major change)...?
Thanks to all,
Milo

pacing report

by golden_snitch - 2009-08-15 03:08:00

Hi Milo!

AS-VS means atrial sensing - ventricular sensing so the pacer just "looks", but doesn't need to pace you.

VP is ventricular pacing so AS-VP means your pacer does not pace the atriums but the ventricles only.

AP-VS is atrial pacing ventricular sensing so only it's only pacing the atriums (that's expected with SSS and chronotopic incompetence because in most cases it's only the sinus node in the right atrium that's sick, the conduction into the ventricles, passing the av-node, is working).

And AP-VP is atrial pacing - ventricular pacing so the pacer stimulates both atriums and ventricles.

So the nurse was right, you are paced 56.9 in the atriums, and 3.4/3.7 in the ventricles.

What you should watch in the future are the ventricular pacing percentages. With your original diagnosis, there is hardly any need to be paced in the ventricles unless you develop some kind of heart block (av-block), too. The problem is that when the ventricles are paced although it's not necessary, this can in the long run lead to heart failure. Several studies have shown this, and I know from my EPs and also from congresses that this is a big issue. Pacer manufacturers are working on solving the problem. Anyways, you only have roughly 4 % ventricular pacing that's a quite low percentage and should not cause any problems. But there are pacer models that pace patients like you and me more than 30% in the ventricles although it's not necessary, and that IS a problem.

Hope this helps a bit!
Best wishes
Inga

typical

by Tracey_E - 2009-08-15 07:08:51

Nothing is typical! We're all different so you can talk averages but not what's typical. I pace 4% atrial but 99.9% ventricle.

I'm so glad to hear you are feeling great! Not everyone gets such drastic results but I did also. It's because our bodies are no longer starved of oxygen! I still feel fabulous 15 yrs later, though not quite as energized as I did those first months. I was working out twice a day just to burn energy, it was crazy!

Hee hee, you're not incompetent, just your sinus node is. I have that also. Sinus bradycardia is the symptom, chronotopic incompetence is the diagnosis. I have that also, the pm easily fixes it. It just means your heart is cruising along at a high rate, drops, then picks up normally again. The pm prevents the dips.

Thanks, too!

by pezzypooh - 2009-08-17 12:08:25

Thanks, Inga, also for the information on the initials and their definitions. I took note of all the information from above, and it will surely answer some questions I had from my second interrogation!

Thanks again!

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