VALUE OF AUTOMATIC PROCESSING AND RELIABILITY OF STORED DATA IN AN IMPLANTED PACEMAKER - INITIAL RESULTS IN 59 PATIENTS

Stored data in implantable pacemakers have rarely been used as a diagn ostic fool because of the complexity. Our group has developed software called AIDA, providing an automatic interpretation of data stored in memories of the Chorus (ELA medical) pacemaker. We compared the result s of AIDA analysis to surface ECG Holter interpretation in 59 patients (age 75 +/- 9 years). in 33 cases, neither AIDA nor the Holter found any anomaly. Eleven patients demonstrated episodes of supraventricular tachycardia (SVT), confirmed by AIDA in ten patients; AIDA failure wa s due to nonsustained episodes of SVT not inducing mode switch. Loss o f atrial sensing, pacemaker-mediated tachycardia, and ventricular extr asystoles were detected by AIDA in ten patients. Traditional Holter mi ssed three cases. This initial study confirms that stored pacemaker da ta, automatically interpreted can provide reliable information over a 24-hour period.