Long‐Term Follow‐Up of Patients Treated with Automatic Scanning Antitachycardia Pacemaker

The long‐term efficacy of an automatic antitachycardia pacemaker was evaluated in 13 patients with supraventricular tachycardia and in two patients with ventricular tachycardia. Patients were followed for 4–53 months (median 16). The concertina scanning mode with 2–7 extrastimuli proved to be effective in all patients but one. During follow‐up, two patients had to be reoperated due to sensing problems. Atrial flutter was induced during scanning in one patient, termination mode was triggered by sinus tachycardia in one patient despite beta blocker therapy, and in one patient after cessation of beta blocker treatment. The pacemaker did not induce any serious arrhythmias and no sudden deaths occurred. Seven patients were given beta blockers, one patient with ventricular tachycardia was additionally administered amiodarone. In conclusion, the PASAR 4171 (Telectronics, Englewood, CO, USA) automatic scanning pacemaker is an alternative or adjunctive means to chronic antiarrhythmic drug therapy in patients with supraventricular tachycardia, but further versatility with regard to sensitivity, refractory period, and tachycardia recognition is required to eliminate the shortcomings observed, including the need for additional beta blocker therapy.