Early clinical results with VDD pacing in patients with atrioventricular block

In patients with intact sinus node function and atrioventricular block III(o) VDD pacing with a single pass lead may have advantages compared to conventional DDD systems. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability of a new VDD pacemaker with regard to problems encountered with the implantation and the stability of the atrial sensing potential in the postoperative course. 24 patients (10 male, 14 female; age 61 +/- 17 years) underwent implantation of the Intermedics UNITY 292+07 VDD pacemaker. Patients were analyzed postoperatively with respect to stimulation parameters applied. The mean follow-up was 10+/- 3 months. While early on 23 of 24 patients were paced in a VDD mode, one patient was programmed to the vvi mode due to atrial flutter. One patient died early after aortic valve replacement, while another lost his atrial sensing one month postoperatively. Two patients were reprogrammed to the vvi mode because of atrial arrhythmias. The other 20 patients demonstrated stable atrial sensing potential aside from unchanged ventricular stimulation parameters. No infectious or unchanged ventricular stimulation parameters. No infectious or technical problems were observed. From these results it is concluded that VDD pacing may represent an excellent alternative in patients with intact sinus node function and AV block III(o). The atrial sensing was found to be reliable with the additional technical advantage that the single pass lead is less prone to dislocation than the atrial leads in DDD pacing.