Pacemakers and Store Security Devices

The ever-increasing complexity of medical device therapy and installation of public electronic security systems demands vigilance in discerning interactions that may be harmful to patients during typical activities of daily living. Premature pacemaker stimulation, isolated skipped beats, or reversion to backup asynchronous pacing have been observed during in vitro and in vivo testing. To date, no deaths and only minor inconvenience have been reported during extreme exposure of patients with pacemakers when they have come directly in contact with or in close apposition to electronic security systems. Patients with any type of implanted electronic medical system should be forewarned: "Don't lean, don't linger" near any potential source of electromagnetic interference. Changing technologies in implantable electronic medical systems as well as societal sources of electromagnetic interference require continued awareness on the part of physicians and patients alike, with care being taken to distinguish largely theoretical hazards from those that constitute meaningful dangers to patients with implanted cardiac arrhythmia devices.