[Study of a case of "pacemaker syndrome" by echocardiography and phonomechanocardiography]

This report is concerned with the observation of a woman aged 61 with sino-atrial disorders in whom near-syncopal episodes recurred after implantation of a pacemaker. The attacks were associated with paroxysmal lowering of blood pressure. The echocardiogram and the phonomecanocardiogram indicated that a shortening of the left ventricular ejection time and a decrease of the duration and the amplitude of the separation of the aortic valve leaflets abruptly appeared whenever the patient was under pacing. This data further stresses the importance of the so-called "pacemaker syndrome". The phonomecano- and echocardiogram may permit to select among paced patients with recurrent symptoms those who deserve consideration of replacement of their ventricular pacemaker by a bifocal unit.