Long-term follow-up of patients undergoing permanent pacemaker implantation: GATA exeperience

Objective: Permanent pacemaker implantation is an essential in many cardiovascular disorders. In present, one lead pacemaker implantation (especially ventricular) and dual-chamber pacemakers may be used to treat these disorders. Ventricular pacemaker implantation is less expensive, but dual-chamber pacemakers are known to be more physiologic. In that study, we aimed to compare long-term cardiovascular mortality in those patients. Material and methods: Between January 1994 and December 2013, 240 consecutive patients implanted VVI or DDD pacemakers (PM)s were examined in this retrospective single-centre study. Results: A total of 29 patients underwent VVI PM and 211 underwent DDD PM implantation. The median follow-up duration was 44.1 months (21.6-90.3).). Forty one (17.1%) patients died during the follow-up period. Among the 29 patients implanted with a VVI, 13 died during follow-up. In the DDD group, 28 deaths were recorded. The observed annual rates of death from cardiovascular causes were lower in the patients undergoing DDD PM compared to that of the patients undergoing VVI PM (annual rates of death, 1.5 percent with ventricular pacing and 7.3 percent with physiologic pacing, respectively). Conclusion: The implantation of permanent pacemaker decreases the mortality rate. When comparing VVI and DDD pacing, the mortality rate is lower the dualchamber pacing as compared with ventricular pacing are observed principally in the subgroup of patients with sinus-node dysfunction.