Pacing and clinical electrophysiology : PACE
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Pacing Clin Electrophysiol · Jun 1990
A study of the use of flecainide acetate in the long-term management of cardiac arrhythmias.
One hundred and sixty-nine patients with a wide range of cardiac arrhythmias and who had been treated with chronic oral flecainide acetate were reviewed retrospectively. The most common arrhythmia was atrial fibrillation (32%), and 20% of the patient population had the Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. Five hundred and three treatment episodes were assessed, 254 with flecainide alone or in combination, mean duration 7.3 +/- 9.4 months, and 249 without flecainide, mean duration 9.5 +/- 12.3 months. ⋯ Arrhythmia frequency was reduced or abolished in 73% of flecainide treatment episodes, with little difference between arrhythmia groups. Unwanted effects were seen in 14% of flecainide treatment episodes, and half of these cases were managed by dose adjustment. It is concluded that flecainide acetate is effective in a wide range of cardiac arrhythmias, and that long-term management problems are few.
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Pacing Clin Electrophysiol · Jun 1990
Comparative StudyComplications after single versus dual chamber pacemaker implantation.
To compare the complication rate in patients having a dual chamber versus a single chamber pacing system, 337 consecutive procedures performed during a 3-year period were analyzed prospectively. Two hundred fifty-eight patients (77%) received a VVI pacemaker and 75 (23%) a DDD unit. Thirteen VVI (5%) and 4 DDD (5.3%) needed reintervention. ⋯ Muscular stimulation was noticed among three DDD (4%) and nine VVI systems (3.5%). Urgent reprogramming was needed for 23 VVI (9%) and six DDD units (8%). There was no increase in complications with dual chamber pacing compared to single chamber systems.