Resetting of DDD pacemakers due to EMI.
Multiprogrammable pacemakers have long been subject to inappropriate reprogramming and electromagnetic interference (EMI). A limited clinical experience with DDD pacing systems precludes the significance of such phenomena in these units. Since August 1981, in a series of 140 DDD systems, certain units demonstrated consistent and reproducible resetting to the back-up modes caused by electrocautery. One unit was permanently reset to the VOO mode. These observations suggest the need for renewed caution at the time of surgery; they also underscore the importance of a thorough understanding of any DDD system and careful follow-up so that such phenomena will not be misinterpreted as pacemaker failure, resulting in erroneous pacemaker removal.
D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000209:etiology; D004564:Electrocoagulation; D055590:Electromagnetic Phenomena; D006801:Humans; D010138:Pacemaker, Artificial; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000209:etiology