AV nodal stimulation during atrial tachyarrhythmia to prevent inappropriate therapy delivery

摘要

The disclosure describes techniques for delivering electrical stimulation to decrease the ventricular rate response during an atrial tachyarrhythmia, such as atrial fibrillation. AV nodal stimulation is employed during an atrial tachyarrhythmia episode with rapid ventricular conduction to distinguish ventricular tachyarrhythmia from supraventricular tachycardia and thereby prevent delivering inappropriate therapy to a patient.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
incrementing a counter upon detection of a ventricular tachyarrhythmia event; detecting an atrial tachyarrhythmia; during the detected atrial tachyarrhythmia, anticipating detection of a ventricular tachyarrhythmia in a heart of a patient based on a ventricular tachyarrhythmia not yet being detected but the counter reaching a threshold value of a ventricular tachyarrhythmia event count; in response to anticipating detection of the ventricular tachyarrhythmia, delivering electrical stimulation to block the atrioventricular node of the heart; and terminating the delivery of electrical stimulation based on one or more stimulation termination criteria.