Paired stimulation of the heart in the treatment of tachycardia and tachyarrhythmia.

Paired electrical stimulation of the heart was applied in the treatment of 82 patients with tachycardia of various origin, refractory to drug treatment. Cardiostimulators and electrodes of the Institute's own original design were used. The stimulation parameters were calculated by a method proposed by the author. The best results were achieved in patients with paroxysmal tachycardia; in 14 out of 17 patients, paired stimulation suppressed the attack. In a majority of patients with tachysystolic form of atrial fibrillation (30 out of 49 patients), stimulation led to normalization of haemodynamics and helped overcome the crisis. In sinus tachycardia the retardative pacing was beneficial in rare cases only, when the tachycardia was losing its compensatory character. Of dangerous complications there occurred ventricular fibrillation (2 patients), removed by electroshock. In the author's opinion, paired stimulation has its advantages over electric defibrillation in patients in a poor condition with paroxysmal tachycardia and the tachysystolic form of atrial fibrillation.