Single Versus Double Chamber Rate Responsive Cardiac Pacing: Comparison by Cardiopulmonary Noninvasive Exercise Testing

A new double chamber rate responsive cardiac pacemaker (DDDMR) bas been implanted in seven patients (four males and three females) with a mean age of 62 years. Indication for pacemaker treatment was complete AV block in two patients, complete AV block associated to sinus node disease in three patients and sinus node disease alone in two patients. Six patients underwent two maximal stress tests on a cycloergometer performed twice randomly starting with WIMR or DDDMR. Basic work load of 50 watts was increased by steps of 25 watts every 2 minutes. Heart rate, respiratory frequency, blood pressure, exercise duration, maximal charge developed, oxygen consumption, rate pressure product, efficiency and Borg scale were compared. Our results show a general trend but no significant differences between ail the measured parameters except for efficiency which was significantly higher with DDDMR. These results prove a slight improvement of cardiopulmonary performance in DDDMR pacing compared to WIMR and also confirm the importance of atrial contribution to cardiac output on exercise.