摘要 |
A rate-responsive dual-chamber antitachycardia pacer and pacing method which automatically diagnoses and supports a patient's hemodynamic status by measuring metabolic demand and sensing intracardiac electrograms to determine whether the heart is beating normally or under conditions of bradycardia, tachycardia, or fibrillation. The pacer supports the patient's metabolic demand by electrically stimulating the heart at a pacing rate driven either by the heart's sinus node or, alternatively, by the patient's metabolic demand (a metabolic demand indicator), as determined by a sensor. The pacer automatically selects between the indicated rates to determine the best pacing rate for appropriately satisfying metabolic demand at all times. The natural rate, driven by the sinus node, takes precedence over the metabolic indicator rate, provided the natural rate meets a standard determined by the metabolic demand indicator rate. The pacer detects abnormal rhythms of tachycardia and fibrillation, classifies these rhythms, and initiates an appropriate therapy accordingly, by analyzing the metabolic demand indicator and the sinus rate.
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