Single lead, dual chamber (DDD) pacing with an atrial floating electrode is limited by high atrial capture thresholds. We evaluated a new atrial stimulation lead with two atrial ring electrodes on a single lead and overlapping unipolar square wave pulses of an opposite polarity. The first pulse is applied to the distal electrode and is positive, the second pulse is to the proximal electrode and is negative, both with respect to the pacemaker housing. The delay between the two pulses is programmable between 0.0 ms to 1.0 ms. The distance between the atrial electrode rings is 10 mm and the distance from the distal atrial ring to the unipolar ventricular electrode can be selected to be 11, 13 or 15 cm. The positioning of the atrial ring is selected according to the measured overlapping biphasic pulse thresholds, including respiratory maneuvers to confirm continuous capture/sensing. The pulse generator has a single lead connection and the capability of delivering the two atrial square wave opposite programmable pulses, with delays from 0.0 to 1.0 ms. The generator may be programmed to the single lead unipolar VDD mode. This system was implanted in 4 patients with complete AV block with normal sinus mode fuction. Atrial and diaphragmatic thresholds for various pulse configurations, widths and delays were measured intra and postoperatively. The midportion of RA was selected as the best location for the atrial rings with continuous capture during deep inspiration. The intra and postoperative (48hrs) measurements were: Threshold Intra-op POstop. (48hrs) Atrial unipolar 3.2 + 0.47 V not measurable Atrial (overlapping biphasic) 1.6 + 0.37 V 3.37 + 0.84 V Diaphragmatic above 7 V 5.21 + 0.3 V wave sensing 2.35 + 1.3 mV 1.27 + 0.8 mV The patients were discharged in the VDD mode. Evaluation thirty days after showed transient loss of atrial capture during inspiration in one patient in spite of absence of other threshold changes compared to the 48 hours evaluation. In conclusion, overlapping biphasic stimulation reduces the atrial pacing thresholds while maintaining adequate atrial sensing with a safe margin regarding diaphragmatic stimulation.
Artificial cardiac pacing; Heart block; Atrial function; Implanted electrodes; Artificial pacemaker