Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Pacemaker timing issue in dog with sick sinus syndrome
By Crooks, A V et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary cardiology : the official journal of the European Society of Veterinary Cardiology·2021·Department of Clinical Sciences and Advanced Medicine, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Quiet timer blanking in a dog with sick sinus syndrome and a permanent transvenous pacemaker.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 14-year-old male Jack Russell Terrier was brought in for fainting and irregular heartbeats. The vet found that the dog had sick sinus syndrome, which affects the heart's rhythm, and implanted a pacemaker to help regulate it. However, the pacemaker had some issues due to a programming feature that caused it to miss some heartbeats during fast heart rates. After adjusting the pacemaker settings didn't help, the vet started the dog on a medication called sotalol, which successfully managed the heart rhythm, and the dog did not experience further pacing problems during follow-up visits.
People also search for: dog fainting Jack Russell Terrier · sick sinus syndrome treatment dog · pacemaker issues in dogs
Abstract
A 14-year-old, 5.8 kg (12.7 lb) male castrated Jack Russell Terrier was referred for investigation of syncope and an arrhythmia. Electrocardiogram showed pronounced variation in the sinus rate including long periods of sinus arrest and an inconsistent escape rhythm. Sick sinus syndrome was the presumptive diagnosis. A single lead permanent transvenous pacemaker was implanted and was programmed to perform ventricular-demand pacing. Postoperative pacemaker interrogation revealed undersensing and asynchronous pacing during episodes of supraventricular tachycardia (SVT). This intermittent pacemaker malfunction was attributed to a specific pacemaker programming feature called quiet timer blanking. Adjustment of pacemaker parameters did not restore normal function. Treatment with sotalol (5 mg per os q 12 h) was used to medically treat the SVT, and asynchronous pacing was not observed during follow-up visits. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first documented case of quiet timer blanking causing paroxysmal undersensing and asynchronous pacing in a dog with a permanent pacemaker.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34784570/