[Pacemaking in Cracow in years 1966-1980]

Permanent pacemaking, a new and effective bradycardia--treatment method, has appeared in the sixties. In Cracow the first emergency temporary stimulation by means of transvenously inserted intracardiac electrode was performed in 1966. Permanent technique of artificial pacing was introduced soon after. The number of pacemaker implantations grew successfully, obtaining 750 of the end of the seventies when the Institute of Cardiology of Nicolaus Copernicus Medical Academy was established. Assortment of implantable devices also became wider, including such rare constructions like nuclear pacemakers and an inductive coupled pacemaker.