title: Tag-along pacemaker.
abstract: In a R-wave-inhibited pulse generator, an increased interval between pacing artifacts giving an apparently slow rate was not indicative of impending battery failure in two patients. The pacing artifacts appeared as a tag-along phenomenon following a slow idioventricular rhythm as the result of an exit block due to (1) hyperkalemia and (2) perielectrode fibrosis. Simple tests demonstrated a normally functioning R-wave sensing circuit and pacemaker.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000209:etiology*; D002779:Cholestasis / Q000150:complications; D005260:Female; D006327:Heart Block / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000473:pathology; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D006947:Hyperkalemia / Q000150:complications; D008875:Middle Aged; D010138:Pacemaker, Artificial; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000150:complications