Total Replacement of Aortic Valve In a Patient With Internal Pacemaker

S INCE 1958, more than 3,000 patients suffering from complete heart block have been treated by implantation of artificial pacemakers of one type or another.1The results of surgical treatment and the design and techniques of implantation of the different instruments have been the subject of numerous reports in the world's literature.2-6It is safe to summarize that at present the operative procedures are associated with a low hospital mortality, and that the vast majority of these patients are restored to normal or near normal activity for prolonged periods of time. It was to be expected that some individuals in this rapidly growing patient population would be subjected to unrelated surgical procedures and this has been reported.7However, a review of the literature on this subject has failed to reveal any report of a patient with an internal pacemaker who has undergone and survived major cardiac surgery