NEWER CLINICAL-APPLICATIONS OF PACING

Newer Clinical Application of Pacing. For many years, the indications for permanent cardiac pacing consisted primarily of AV block and sinus mode dysfunction. In recent years, the indications for pacing have ex panded considerably. This article details recent advances in the appli cation of permanent pacing and the use of permanent pacing for patient s with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, dilated cardiomyopathy, prevention of atrial fibrillation, and pacing in the long QT syndrome. Pacing is now an accepted therapeutic modality in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy a nd has rapidly gained acceptance in the United States, although there are still many unknowns about selection of patients and long-term bene fits. Even less is known about pacing for dilated cardiomyopathy. Cert ain patients do respond with definite subjective improvement and impro ved quality of life, although there are no data to date to suggest imp roved longevity. Pacing for long QT syndrome is mow a wen-accepted ind ication for this relatively small subset of patients. Pacing for the p revention of atrial fibrillation is still in the very early stages of development. Multiple methods have been tried with the current method of choice being dual site atrial pacing. However, it is too early to p redict the long-term success of this modality.