Pacemaker Usage Percentages?

Does anyone out there ever get told at their appointments what percentage of the time their pacemaker is pacing? Mine seems to be going up in usage. They told me this week that I'm being atrial paced 75% of the time, and ventrical paced 47% of the time. I'm wondering if this is a lot or if this is fairly normal.

5 Comments

Pacing Percentages

by SMITTY - 2010-09-22 01:09:10


Hello,

I get a copy of my checkup printout at each checkup and it has the pacing percentages and other data I find interesting. Most doctors will give a copy when it is requested.

As for you question about percentage pacing, I'm not trying to give you a flippant answer but the percentage you are pacing is you. I think you will find that the members here we are all over the map on percentages pacing. Some of the wide range of percentages is due to the persons heart function and some of it due to the pacemaker settings a particular person has.

Take mine for example. I paced the atrium less than 5% and ventrical less than 2% for years with pacemaker settings of a low setting of 70 and high setting of 120. The low setting was increased to 80 last year and the high was not changed and now I' pacing the atrium about 99% and the ventricle about 4%. So to repeat, it depends on what your needs are and what your settings are. Because of this I don't think there are any normal percentages of pacing.

I'll add a little more here in case you tend to get concerned as you see your percentages increase. Let's take my numbers again. Since I'm pacing the atrial almost 100%, it would seem that if my pacemaker suddenly stopped working I would be in a world of trouble. Well I would be in trouble because my heart rate would drop into the upper-40s to mid-50s and with a 45% ejection fraction I would not be very energetic. However, I would not be on the brink of death but I would be back in the doctors office soon asking what had happened.

Finally, there are countless reasons why our pacing percentages may go up or down. Your doctor is the only one that can tell you why yours are changing.

Good luck,

Smitty

averages

by Tracey_E - 2010-09-22 05:09:32

There are no averages or normal numbers. It all depends on why you need the pm, your own needs, and your settings. I have 3rd degree av block and pace 2% atrial, >99% ventricle.

Ronaldo

by J.B. - 2010-09-22 10:09:00

Ronaldo - How can you be so sure DybHen's doctor will be like your docor and not tell her why her pacing percentages change. You know doctors are like other people and they can be different.

amount paced

by LS - 2010-09-23 09:09:28

98% atrial- 4% ventricle

Liz

Pacemaker usage %

by LisaD79 - 2016-06-01 04:06:41

I just had to have an Echo because my cardiologist is concerned that my pacemaker is working so much that it's going to weaken my heart muscle! When I got my dual lead pacemaker about a year and a half ago, it was at 18% usage and now it is at 78% usage. They have never said anything to me about the atrial and ventricle percentages.

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