Introduction: Pacemaker induced ventricular arrhythmias have been documented in the pacemaker population. We hypothesize that right ventricular (RV) pacing in ICD patients is associated with an increased incidence of appropriate ICD therapy. The objective of this study is to compare the incidence of appropriate ICD shocks in patients who RV pace >30% versus patients who RV pace <30%.
Methods: Consecutive patients with de novo ICD’s inserted were included. Patients were divided into two groups: >30% RV pacing (group 1) and <30% RV pacing (group 2).
Results: Sixty-one patients were included. The baseline characteristics of the groups are presented in figure 1. Ten patients in group 1 received an appropriate shock compared to 7 patients in group 2; p=0.4. In subgroup analysis, there was no significant difference between patients who RV paced >75% vs those who paced <10% (p=0.52).
Conclusions: In this population of ICD patients, there was no difference in the incidence of appropriate therapy in patients with a moderate to high rate of ventricular pacing as compare to patients with minimal or no ventricular pacing.