Study: Atrial fibrillation is lower with new pacemakers

Last update: September 5, 2007 - 8:34 PM

New pacemakers that change the way the heart is stimulated can cut by 40 percent the risk of atrial fibrillation, a sometimes deadly heart-rhythm disorder that is the most common side effect of the devices, according to a study published this week.

Setting pacemakers to apply only low levels of electricity that pace one or both sides of the heart to control its rhythm is more effective than current therapy using pacemakers that stimulate both chambers, according to the study in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Atrial fibrillation is found in about 15 percent of the U.S. population over age 65, said lead study author Michael Sweeney, a cardiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

Medtronic Inc., the world's biggest maker of electronic devices, financed the study. The Fridley-based company also provided pacemakers, which were implanted in more than 1,000 patients who had an abnormally slow heart beat because of sinus node disease, a condition that results from aging.

Atrial fibrillation developed in 110 study participants; 68 of them were in the group assigned to conventional dual-chamber pacemakers while 42 had the newer version.

Features on the newer pacemakers are designed to automatically lengthen or eliminate stimulation of either the top or bottom of the heart, Sweeney said.

Right ventricular stimulation during dual-chamber pacing has adverse effects on left ventricular pump function, working against the advantage of having a pacemaker, researchers said in the study.

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