Transtelephone pacemaker monitoring: five years later.
Six hundred nineteen patients have been followed by remote monitoring of pacemaker function using ECG and rate or rate alone; 278 of 280 have had battery exhaustion or electronic failure demonstrated. Ten percent of exhausted pacemakers failed prior to the average longevity of the particular model, and 32% (89 of 280) exceeded 36 months' longevity; of these, 13% (37 of 280) lasted more than 40 months and 4.6% (13 of 280) exceeded 50 months. The error rate is 0.7% (2 of 280). With pulse generator longevity increasing, monitoring is done less frequently during the first 2 years, then calls are made weekly after 24 months.
D004562:Electrocardiography / Q000379:methods; D004581:Electronics; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008722:Methods; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic; D010138:Pacemaker, Artificial; D010991:Plethysmography; D013689:Telephone; D013997:Time Factors