The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Vol 69, 1-7, Copyright © 1975 by The American Association for Thoracic Surgery and The Western Thoracic Surgical Association
Four hundred consecutive patients with permanent transvenous pacemakers
EF Conklin, S Giannelli Jr and TF Nealon Jr
Between April 1, 1965, and May 1, 1973, we inserted permanent transvenous
pacemakers in 400 consecutive patients. Patients considered for this type
of pacing were those with any episode of heart block and those with other
types of bradyarnhythmias who had unexplained vertigo or syncope. There was
one operative death and one instance in which the primary unit became
infected. Problems with catheter dislocation, electrode fracture, and exit
block were few and were easily corrected. We believe transvenous permanent
pacing to be the best method of cardiac pacmaking in these patients. It is
well tolerated by largely avoidable and easy to correct.