Automatic implantable cardioverter defibrillator/permanent pacemaker interaction: loss of pacemaker capture following AICD discharge.
A 78-year-old man treated with amiodarone for recurrent ventricular tachycardia, had sequential placement of a bipolar VVI pacemaker and an automatic implantable cardioverter defibrillator (AICD). During defibrillation threshold testing, there was failure to capture of the pacer in the post-shock period. The time of failure to capture appeared energy-related: the greater the energy delivered, the longer the failure to capture. Careful attention will be necessary in constructing combined AICD/pacemaker units.
D000368:Aged; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000628:therapy; D002304:Cardiac Pacing, Artificial; D004554:Electric Countershock / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000295:instrumentation; D004868:Equipment Failure; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019736:Prostheses and Implants