Pacing after acute myocardial infarction

Experience of endocardial pacing in eighty-two patients with atrioventricular block after myocardial infarction is described. A unipolar pacing wire was passed into an antecubital fossa vein and passed into the right atrium and wedged into the apex of the right ventricle under radiological control using an image intensifier. All patients were attached to an external demand unit set at 60/min which will pace if there is asystole longer than 1 sec. The disadvantages of pacing are discussed.