[Pacemaker therapy with a steroid-containing electrode. Better conditions for stimulation and detection by steroid...

Threshold increase, regularly observed after implantation of pacemakers, leads to increased current consumption and is the decisive factor in determining duration of pacemaker function. Local liberation of dexamethasone at the catheter tip inhibits reactive scar formation at this point. Studies on ten patients showed that with such a steroid-containing catheter thresholds even four weeks after implantation are below 0.07 ms at 2.5 or 1.25 V. Intraoperatively measured intracardiac R-wave potentials increased from 8.4 to 12.5 mV.