[New cardiac pacemakers].
The new pacemakers are operated by lithium batteries, which gives them 5 to 10 years of life. They often contain a microcomputer controlling all their functions. The pacing rate, the energy of each impulse and the sensitivity to spontaneous cardiac potentials can be modified from outside by means of a programmer: the pacemaker can therefore be adapted to each patient, and some abnormalities in its functioning can be corrected without reoperating. It is often possible to interrogate these pacemakers on their setting and on the state of their battery, and they sometimes store in memory the patient's cardiac rhythm, thus acting as "implantable Holters". The so-called "physiological" pacemakers improve haemodynamics by increasing stimulation frequency during exercise, usually through detection of the atrial potential. Finally, the latest pacemakers are capable of controlling some atrial, junctional or ventricular tachycardias. It is for the latter that implantable defibrillators are intended.
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D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000628:therapy*; D004867:Equipment Design; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D010138:Pacemaker, Artificial; D013610:Tachycardia / Q000628:therapy
Les nouveaux stimulateurs cardiaques.