A prospective pediatric clinical trial of digital music players: do they interfere with pacemakers?
BACKGROUND
There has been recent concern in the media about iPod interference with pacemakers. We systematically tested two types of digital music players (DMP) on pacemaker or ICD function in children.


RESULTS
Patients were monitored by a 6-lead ECG and programmer telemetry. The pacemaker was tested in bipolar and unipolar sensing at normal and maximal sensitivities. The order of DMP tested was randomized. Each DMP was placed on top of the pacemaker pocket, put into "play" mode three times (5 seconds each), with and without programmer wand placed one cm adjacent to DMP. Pacemaker interference was defined as: pacing inhibition, inappropriate pacing, oversensing, or detection of high-rate episodes associated with the use of DMP. Of the 67 patients (mean age 12 +/- 5 years), 62 had pacemakers and five had ICDs; 39 endocardial and 28 epicardial systems. Patients were tested with Sansa (67), iPod 30 GB (51), and other DMPs (43). There was no evidence of interference with pacemaker function by any DMP under any of the study conditions (each performed in triplicate). Reproducible programmer telemetry interference was shown in 11 cases (Medtronic 6/47, St. Jude Medical 5/18, Guidant 0/2) related to use of iPod (6), Sansa (1), or others (4). None of these were associated with any evidence of pacemaker malfunction.


CONCLUSIONS
Interference with pacemaker function could not be shown with iPod or MP3 players. No additional precaution beyond standard is necessary for patients with pacemakers when they are using these players.
Chiu
Christine C
CC
Labatt Family Heart Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Huh
June
J
De Souza
Laura
L
Alfaro-Ramirez
Armando
A
Clegg
Robin
R
Fenwick
Laura
L
Hamilton
Robert M
RM
Kirsh
Joel A
JA
Gross
Gil J
GJ
Gao
Dongsheng
D
Stephenson
Elizabeth A
EA
D002648:Child; D004867:Equipment Design; D004868:Equipment Failure; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D055539:MP3-Player; D008297:Male; D010138:Pacemaker, Artificial; D011446:Prospective Studies