Dynamic electrocardiogram examination of sensing abnormalities in patients receiving permanent pacemaker therapy

Objective:This study is undertaken to assess pacemaker function using the dynamic electrocardiogram.Methods:We analyzed dynamic cardiograms(DCG) of 36 patients with pacemaker of various pacing mode. Pacing or sensing abnormalities and pacemaker related arrhythmias were analyzed.Results:Sensing abnormalities were found in 17 cases, among them, 16 patients with atrial or ventricular sensing abnormalities noted only on Holter monitoring. No pacing dysfunction was noted. Pacemaker related arrhythmias were found in 12 patients. After adjusted the corresponding parameters of the pacemakers according to the Holter monitoring results, sensing abnormalities disappeared in part of them.Conclusion:Holter monitoring provides important information on pacemaker function, even in patients assumed to have regular device function, and shows to be clearly superior to ECG interpretation alone. Such data can be used for adjusting programme parameters and troubleshoot.