A. The purpose of this project is to look at the use of pacemakers and antiarryhthmia devices in heart patients.
B. Because of new guidelines, it is necessary to review the use of these devices in patients in which they are now being used, and carefully screen new patients to see if they would benefit from the devices.
A. The population that will benefit from this project is patients being considered for implantation with pacemakers and antiarrhythmia devices.
B. 1. The project is needed to ensure that these devices are not used unless appropriate, and are only used in accordance with the new guidelines.
2. Patients will be assessed according to the new guidelines
before being implanted with the devices, if they are deemed appropriate. NOTE - YOU WILL NEED TO INSERT SUPPORTING ASSESSMENT DATA - I DO NOT HAVE IT
The American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association and the North American Society for Pacing and Electrophysiology have issued new guidelines for implantation of cardiac pacemakers and antiarryhthmia devices (Morantz and Torrey, 2003). The new guidelines recommend pacing therapy for the following types of patients:
-adults with alternating bundlebranch block
-adults with syncope of unexplained origin when major abnormalities of sinus mode function are discovered or provoked in electrophysiologic studies
-adults with significantly symptomatic and recurrent neurocardiogenic syncope associated with bradycardia documented spontaneously or during tilt table testing
-adults with neuromuscular diseases such as myotonic muscular dystrophy, Kearns-Sayre syndrome, Erb's dystrophy (limb-girdle), and peroneal muscular atrophy with any degree of fascicular or atrioventricular (AV) block (including first degree AV block) with or without symptoms
-children with congenital heart disease and impaired hemodynamics because of sinus bradycardia or loss of AV synchrony
-childre...