title: Seasonal distribution of pacemaker implantation for symptomatic bradycardia.
abstract: Permanent cardiac-pacemaker therapy is widely recognized as beneficial in the treatment of various types of symptomatic bradycardia. However, the seasonal distribution of pacemaker implantation has never been discussed. The purpose of this study was to investigate the seasonal distribution of pacemaker implantation in a large population of patients with symptomatic bradycardia. The study population consisted of 904 patients who underwent implantation of a new permanent pacemaker between January 1999 and December 2001 and were registered in the database of CPI Company in Taiwan. The number of pacemaker implantations in each month was analyzed to investigate the seasonal distribution of pacemaker implantations in a year. The number of patients who underwent pacemaker implantation between October and December was significantly higher than that of other seasons (P < 0.007). The results indicate that there is a tendency for bradyarrhythmic patients to have symptoms between October and December.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Chien-Jen
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Mien-Cheng
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Hon-Kan
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Yip
authors.forename: Hsueh-Wen
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Cheng-I
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Yen-Hsun
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Han-Tan
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Chai
authors.forename: Hsiu-Feng
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Chia-Chen
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.forename: Shu-Chu
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Shih
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001919:Bradycardia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D002304:Cardiac Pacing, Artificial / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012042:Registries; D012621:Seasons; D012804:Sick Sinus Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology