Pacemaker mode selection and survival: a plea to apply the principles of evidence based medicine to cardiac pacing practice

摘要

Industry sources estimate that more than 440 000 perma- nent pacemakers were implanted worldwide in 1995, at a cost of several billion dollars. In industrialised countries, sick sinus syndrome is the implant diagnosis in approxi- mately half of all cases, and atrioventricular block consti- tutes the majority of the remaining cases. Other diagnoses such as neurocardiogenic syncope account for a relatively small number of implants. Current technology permits the selection of ventricular (single chamber) or atrial based (dual chamber and single chamber) systems for pacemaker recipients.