Suppression of Ventricular Arrhythmias by Transvenous Intracardiac Pacing

Abstract

THE VALUE of the artificial pacemaker in the management of rhythm disturbances associated with atrioventricular (AV) heart block has been well established in the past few years. Recently Sowton et al¹reported two cases of repetitive ventricular arrhythmias not associated with AV heart block, which were suppressed by artificial pacing after other methods of therapy, including electric countershock, were of no avail. Since repetitive tachycardias of the prefibrillatory variety may be quite serious and difficult to control by conventional methods of therapy, and since there appears to be a paucity of information concerning the application of artificial pacing to this problem, the following two cases are presented. <h3>Report of Cases</h3><h3>Case 1.—</h3> A 42-year-old white housewife was admitted to the hospital following a convulsive seizure. The patient had had rheumatic fever at 22 years of age without recurrence. Physical examination revealed an irregular heart beat at a rate of