Biological pacemaking: a concept whose time has come...or is coming

摘要

The recognition of heart block is as old as recorded literature. In the 6th century BC Pien Ch'io wrote that "intermittency" of the pulse such that 1 of 50 beats was dropped did not indicate disease and was consistent with a normal life expectancy.1 But dropping of 1 in 40 beats suggested a diseased organ (which organ is not stated) and a reduction in life expectancy to 4 years. Increasing numbers of dropped beats indicated more and more diseased organs and fewer years of life expectancy, and finally, when the dropped beats were 1 in 3-4, life was expected to end in 6-7 days.