Hi all

so it's been 1 week since my PM implant and I am really feeling great for the most part. My incision feels and looks good. I was having some pain in my upper chest opposite my incision when I would take deep breathes or while walking around. when I called the doc, they wanted me to head up to the pacer clinic at Loyola for a check. so that's what we did yesterday. Had the pacer checked, they even gave me a print out, although I have no idea what any of that means LOL it does, however, look good and they tweeked my ventricular settings. Doctor wanted and did a 'mini' echo to check for fluid around my heart and lungs; they found nothing. They also did another chest xray and all looked good there as well. The mention an -itis (i can't pronounce :o) ) and pleurisy as possible causes, but early onstage at best. They sent me home with the ok, and to take motrin as needed and to obviously watch it. Motrin didn't really cut it, and since it isn't u bearable I'l take it as my sign to take it easy :o)
I have a Boston Scientific Altra 20 dual lead pacemaker and I'd really like to know what the readings mean. any one know?

9 Comments

i'll do the best i can

by Max4pups - 2010-06-09 02:06:37

that is the -itis Tracey LOL thank you :o)

i believe i read that article on pleurisy as well...i do try to do what research i can :o)

there are a couple charts with percentages, but there is a list of things in a box and the boxed is titled Counters:

Paced and Sensed 100% 545.7K
a-sensed / v-sensed 0% 272
a-sensed / v-sensed 0% 15
" / " 0% 1

Atrial
Paced 0% 16
Sensed 100% 546.0 K

Ventricular
Paced 0% 273
Sensed 100% 545.7K

A-Tachy Response
Mode Switches 0
Total Time 0% 0.0 min
maximum time 0.0 min
average time 0.0 min

Ectopic beats
PACs 14
single or double PVCs 14
three or more PVCs 0
Atrial Tachy Detections 0
Ventricular Tachy Detections 0

Rate Hysteresis
Searches 0
successful searches 0
pacemaker wenckebach counters 0


all just crazy numbers to me LOL

thanks for your help :o)

ok i think LOL

by Max4pups - 2010-06-09 06:06:50

she said there was some pacing, that i def went below my 50 beats, but that over all it's at 0% which is good...that's where i got confused:
the 16 after the 0% under Atrial means i paced 16 times but over all it works out to be 0% (that's what i was told)

and the 273 was ventricular pacing but over was 0% not how all that works out is beyond me....

it wouldn't read tachy since i slow down and not speed up

when i got back i'm going to have her explain it to me again off of the sheet they give me..maybe it'll make more sense LOL

duh

by Tracey_E - 2010-06-09 06:06:54

That's what happens when you start a post then go do something and come back an hour later!
100% sensing, 0% pacing means you are not pacing

numbers

by Tracey_E - 2010-06-09 06:06:55

Ok, according to this (unless I'm losing my mind, which is entirely possible!) you are not really using your pm.

You have two leads- one atrial, one ventricular
Pacing is the percentage of time you are actually pacing
Sensing is when it's not pacing, but sitting back and watching
a-sensing is sensing with the atrial lead
v-sensing is ventricular sensing
I'm not sure what the numbers after the % are. Frank or Smitty might know.

ectopic are extra or skipped beats. The pm doesn't really control them, it just counts them. PVC are premature ventricular contractions, when the ventricles do a little partial beat before the real beat. PAC are premature atrial contractions
tachy is a fast run of beats

No idea what the hysteresis is!

Wenckenbach is a type of signal block between the atria and ventricle.

episodes

by Tracey_E - 2010-06-09 07:06:53

Ok, I got it! The number after the percentage is the number of episodes. 0% must mean less than 1% of the time, It's phrased <1% on my St Judes reports.

If your pulse is 60 bpm, that's 86,400 beats per day. 1% would be 864 beats so anything less than that (more or less, your pulse is not 60 bpm all day, just using that as an example), it's going to show up as 0%.

Just keep asking! That's how I learned all this stuff. After a while my rep started automatically telling me about everything he is doing.

readings

by Tracey_E - 2010-06-09 11:06:01

If you post what the settings on the print out are, we can explain them to you :o)

probably pericarditis, it's an inflammation around the heart.

Comment

by SMITTY - 2010-06-09 11:06:04


Hi Max,

You said pleurisy was mentioned a possible cause for your pain. Since I have been down the road with pleurisy and know how painful it can be I'll include an edited article on the illness.

"Pleurisy is inflammation of the linings around the lungs (the pleura). There are two layers of pleura: one covering the lung (termed the visceral pleura) and the other covering the inner wall of the chest (the parietal pleura). These two layers are lubricated by pleural fluid.

Pleurisy is frequently associated with the accumulation of extra fluid in the space between the two layers of pleura. This fluid is referred to as a pleural effusion.

The pain fibers of the lung are located in the pleura. When this tissue becomes inflamed, it results in a sharp pain in the chest that is worse with breathing in, aka pleurisy. Other symptoms of pleurisy can include cough, chest tenderness, and shortness of breath."

The only relief I could ever get was to move as little as possible and take pain pills as necessary. Mine would usually go away in a few days.

I can't speak for most people but I can tell you what the majority of the information on a printout tells me.

1 - My pacemaker must be working or the nurse/technician would tell me (I hope).

2 - The computer is working.

3 - The connection between the computer and printer is okay.

4 - The printer works fine.

If I'm lucky: That printout will also tell me in plain English the percentage of time my heart is being paced by the pacemaker and it will give me an estimated time of remaining battery life.

Other than that I will have 2 or 3 pages of printed information that means very little to me.

Good luck,

Smitty

I agree with Tracey

by ElectricFrank - 2010-06-10 01:06:55

Tracey pretty well covered it. All I can add is that there are two main uses for pacers.

1. Folks like me that need pacer support most of the time.
2. Folks like you that only need the pacer as a backup to fill in those times when things get strange. Keep in mind that you only need to miss maybe 10 beats in a row to pass out so you still need the pacer.

One comment on the chest pain. If you were totally out during the surgery there is no telling what positions they put your body in during the surgery. That can result in post operative pain that is hard to diagnose. I was totally awake during my original implant and at one point someone decided to to use my sternum for an elbow rest. Needless to say I would have been sore if I wasn't able to let him know. To show how they think, he said "Oh we can give you something for the pain". I won't print my response.

frank

chest pain

by Max4pups - 2010-06-10 09:06:03

LOL I was on a very good cocktail, as to not remember anything...i do know i was strapped to the table..arms...legs...as not to help the doctors with the surgery. the chest pain is not painful to the touch, it's painful when i take a deep breath in or when walking long distances (like the huge hospital hallways LOL)
It does seem to be a bit better this morning so i'm grateful for that. I can now sleep comfortable on my right side with a pillow in front of my for support..aaahhhh thank the Lord :o)
I'm not getting dizzy or light headed while i'm stranding, which is a true blessing, and I stood up during our evening church service to sing which I haven't done in a very long time...
very thankful for PM "Priscilla" (we explained it to our kids that I had a bad secretary who was not getting the messages to my heart to do what was needed, so they said my new secretary needed a name) :o)

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