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Inappropriate Rate Change in Minute Ventilation Rate Responsive Pacemakers Due to Interference by Cardiac Monitors
Author(s) -
CHEW ENG WOOI,
TROUGHEAR RICHARD H.,
KUCHAR DENNIS L.,
THORBURN CHARLES W.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
pacing and clinical electrophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.686
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1540-8159
pISSN - 0147-8389
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-8159.1997.tb06171.x
Subject(s) - medicine , interference (communication) , ventilation (architecture) , cardiology , heart rate , sensitivity (control systems) , respiratory rate , anesthesia , blood pressure , electronic engineering , telecommunications , computer science , mechanical engineering , channel (broadcasting) , engineering
Observations of inappropriate rate increase in five patients with minute ventilation rate responsive implanted pacemakers (Telectronics Meta) are reported. Pacing rate increases were observed immediately upon connection of the resting patients to two brands of widely used cardiac monitors, and one commonly used echocardiograph. In some circumstances, the rate increase remained until monitor disconnection; in others the rate increase was transient, lasting about 20 seconds. A hardware thoracic resistance variation simulator was constructed and connected to one of the pacemakers to test sensitivity to rate modifying interference from external sources. This demonstrated that the sensitivity to interference is dependent upon the frequency of the interfering signal and is highest in the range 10–60 kHz. that peak currents as low as 10 μA can cause maximum rate increase, and that the signals injected into patients by several cardiac monitors, for purposes of lead‐off detection or respiratory monitoring, fall into the frequency range at which the pacemaker is most susceptible to interference.