Pacering amounts

Hi all

Hope all is well with everyone,I am healing after my 2 surgeries finally getting some energy back,I have a question been wondering for a while about it ,when i first got my pacemaker i was pacing about 70% and less than 1 % i have noticed the last few times i have had my Pacer interigated that it has been slowly but surley moving up in percntage the latest was 94% and 2% which is kinda scary 94% is getting close to being totaly dependant i was wondering does this mean the reason you got the pacemaker is getting worse or is it just normal over time to get more dependant ? I recived the pacemaker for tachy/brady syndrome and 6-7 pauses of my heart at night, I also have afib,and according to my angiogram i just had i do not have any heart disease like blockages so that is good.
Thanks Valerie

2 Comments

Pacing %

by ElectricFrank - 2009-11-21 11:11:10

The pacing % time is affected by a lot of things. It could be the condition that required the pacer in the first place is becoming more demanding. It can also be affected by changes in the settings of the pacer.

Being totally dependent isn't all that big a deal. You likely have far less risk of a serious event due to pacer failure than you do driving on the freeway.

I've addressed the issue myself by periodically asking to have the pacer momentarily stopped during a check up to see what would happen. This can be a bit scary though. In my case even though I am pacing very close to 100%, turning off the pacer results in my HR dropping around 30. The last time I had it done I stood up while the pacer was off and didn't pass out so I'm pretty confident I could survive and get to ER.

frank

atrial/ventricular pacing rate

by golden_snitch - 2009-11-22 03:11:29

Hi!

I can only guess but maybe 94% is the percentage in the atrium and 2% is the one in the ventricles? if that's the case, you are not pacer dependent, one usually speaks of pacer dependency when someone has a complete permanent heart block and is therefore paced 100% in the ventricles.
I'm paced 100% in the atriums, and around 2% in the ventricles, and when my pacer is turned off I have still got a pretty stable rhythm, it's just too slow and won't react appropriatly when exercising.

There was a post here recently about congenital complete heart block. I thought it was great because it was showing everyone that even with a complete heart block from day 1 of your life on, you can still go without needing a pacer for many years - there is an escape rhythm that will take over. Also, the first person who had a pacer implanted passed out a lot due to complete but not permanent heart block, the day before surgery even about 27 times. But he survived all these episodes, later had the pacer put in, and then lived for many, many years (I think he was somewhere in his 80s when he died).

So don't worry too much about pacer dependency. I always say it's rather that one's quality of life depends on the pacer than that you would drop dead when the pacer doesn't work.

Best wishes
Inga

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