title: The next step in cardiac pacing: the view from 1958.
abstract: At a 1-day conference sponsored by the Rockefeller Institute in September 1958, physicians and engineers held a confused debate over future directions for the young field of cardiac pacing. Many of the existing impediments to long-term pacing for chronic illness received little attention; the participants focused instead on whether atrial synchrony would be a requirement for long-term pacing. The Rockefeller conference illustrates the observation that cardiac pacing has undergone several major redefinitions. This process is rarely a smooth one but involves uncertainty, intense debate, and explicit choice.
authors.affiliation: Department of History, Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota 55057.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jeffrey
mesh_terms: D002304:Cardiac Pacing, Artificial / Q000266:history*; D003226:Congresses as Topic / Q000266:history; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D010138:Pacemaker, Artificial / Q000266:history*; D014481:United States