Afib tracking?

When the PM is interrogated, does it show on the report if any AFIB occurred? My husband had surgery for AFIB and so far none, as far as he can tell, but will we be able to see episodes?
thanks so much!

4 Comments

thats really interesting inga!!

by Hot Heart - 2009-10-29 04:10:51

Hi! I didnt realise that there could be an ecg in a pacemaker, perhaps thats what ive got then as the technicianwas able to explain all my afib episodes.

Cheers

HH

don't think so

by Tracey_E - 2009-10-29 06:10:05

They do not record like an EKG, but only when the pm is pacing or sensing. If you have a safety mode to kick you into a block when you fibrillate, it'll show how often you use that mode. It usually takes a Holter to show how often you fibrillate. If he can't feel it, I wouldn't worry about it too much!

might be able to

by Hot Heart - 2009-10-29 08:10:51

Hi there, I had mypm check 6 months ago and i was told that i had episodes of afib of 300 in atrium, yesterday went for 6 month check and was told this time only episode of 120; they must have been able to access this info through my pm check, it was the only test i had.

HH

depends on the pacer model

by golden_snitch - 2009-10-29 12:10:32

hi there!

most pacers have at least a counter that tells you about "high atrial/ventricular episodes" or something like that. my old pacer usually said how many episodes i had above a certain rate, and then the longest, the fastest and the last one. but no ECG.

my new pacer has an ECG, and so when I have arrhythmia you can see that when interrogating the pacer. it also counts episodes, but the good thing is that the ECG is there, too, because counters are sometimes wrong. it also documents my mode-switch (heart block) episodes on ECG. not all of them, but I think it stores up to 25 episodes (for each category: arrhythmia and mode switches) or 5 minutes of ECG all together. something like that.

best wishes
inga

You know you're wired when...

You fondly named your implanted buddy.

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So, my advice is to go about your daily routine and forget that you have a pacemaker implanted in your body.