Improved reliability of post-operative ventricular pacing by use of bipolar temporary pacing leads

The study compared the clinical reliability of using a bipolar epicardial w ire (6495, Medtronic) over a unipolar type (FEP15, Ethicon) for post-operat ive pacing in coronary artery surgery. Atrial and ventricular wires of both types were implanted in 18 patients. Sensitivities and pacing thresholds w ere tested for 5 consecutive days. Results show that pacing thresholds were better maintained with the bipolar wire in both atria and ventricles. Howe ver, sensing failures were frequent in the atrial position (34% vs 9.3% com pared with unipolar). By contrast, in the ventricle, no sensing failures oc curred (0% vs 17.6% compared with unipolar). Furthermore, sensing magnitude was significantly better (11.13+/-1.32 vs 5.65+/-0.53 mV, P< 0.001). We co nclude that a single 6495 bipolar wire is effective for temporary ventricul ar pacing, whilst double unipolar wires remain a useful strategy for securi ng atrial sensing and pacing. (C) 2001 The International Society for Cardio vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.