Yonsei Med J.  2009 Aug;50(4):588-590. 10.3349/ymj.2009.50.4.588.

Permanent Pacemaker for Syncope after Heart Transplantation with Bicaval Technique

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Cardiology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. smkang@yuhs.ac
  • 2Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

Sinus node dysfunction occurs occasionally after heart transplantation and may be caused by surgical trauma, ischemia to the sinus node, rejection, drug therapy, and increasing donor age. However, the timing and indication of permanent pacemaker insertion due to sinus node dysfunction following heart transplantation is contentious. Here, we report a case of a permanent pacemaker insertion for syncope due to sinus arrest after heart transplantation, even with a bicaval technique, which has been known to associate with few incidences of sinus node dysfunction.

Keyword

Permanent pacemaker; sinus arrest; heart transplantation

MeSH Terms

Adult
*Heart Transplantation
Humans
Male
*Pacemaker, Artificial
Sinus Arrest, Cardiac

Figure

  • Fig. 1 Sinus arrest was captured for 10 seconds on telemetry on day 22 after heart transplantation.

  • Fig. 2 Endomyocardial biopsy showed no evidence of rejection. Normal myocardium without lymphocytic infiltration or myocyte damage.


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